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Happy New Year folks! I completed a four week challenge over the festivities though not being great with foods, I kept up most of the exercises so am happy with that. I'm back up to 12 stone (was a few lbs under a month ago) but that's to be expected, and my main goals are to lose bodyfat and get stronger. THE CHALLENGE (running six weeks from today) Exercise: Run before work (M-F) up a nearby hill: 0.7m total with ~50ft incline Pilates before work (M-F) the Hundred with straight legs ribcage closure every 20 beats Weight training, 3x10reps of each unless stated: Monday PUSH: Bench press, Military press, Table dips Wednesday PULL: Gym ring pull up angled with bent knees, 3x 5sec Pull-up hold, Barbell rows Thursday LEGS: Squat, Lunge, Romanian Deadlift Pilates class Monday evenings - youtube class otherwise Walking: Office days: to the station and over the river at the other end (~2mile total) WfH and non-work days: 2 miles min, ideally in daylight Teethbrushing squat: held for 2+min Cycle once a week Foods: Tracking 1600 calories on mfp, days that may scupper: 8th January: Afternoon tea with the quartet 15th January: Burns Night evening That's it at the moment but I'm sure more things will come up! Other: Stop scrolling crap on my phone before bed Read instead! POINTS AND SCORING Complete all morning and evening workouts in a week (run, hundred, squat) = 100pts Complete all weight sessions and pilates in a week = 100pts Complete 2 miles of walking every day = 100pts for the week Cycle once a week = 50pts Any missed sessions, the week will be scored at my discretion based on how well I did otherwise. Max exercise points = 2100pts Under calories every day for a week = 100 points Under calories six days out of the week = 75 points Under calories five days out of the week = 50 points Day over 1600 but under 1700 = minus 5 points Day over 1600 but stayed relatively health = minus 10 points Day over 1600 and splurged = minus 25 points Two weeks under cals in a row = 50 bonus pts All six weeks under = 50 extra bonus pts Max food points = 900pts No phone scrolling before bed: 100pts for 7/7 days, 75pts for 6/7 days, 50% for 5/7 days Read instead of phone crap: 50pts for at least 4/7 days Two weeks in a row = 20 bonus points Max better bedtime points = 1000pts Total possible points = 4000pts

Oh hai there, how are you? I am very pleased that this got saved as a draft from yesterday! My last challenge was named incorrectly thanks to me not knowing how to find my historical info (oops) so correcting this to 21st. I successfully completed my last challenge with 85% and levelled up, woop! Main goals as ever: reduce body fat % and get stronger (should probably actually check my current bf%). I would also LOVE to be under 12 stone by the end of the challenge, currently 12.5. Existing good habits: Run before work (M-F) up a nearby hill: 0.7m total with ~50ft incline I've been switching to a short walk pre-hill which I'd like to not do Pilates before work (M-F) the Hundred with straight legs ribcage closure every 20 beats I'm happy keeping this as is Weight training, 3x10reps of each unless stated: Monday PUSH: Bench press, Military press, push-ups (elbows in, on knees) Wednesday PULL: Gym ring pull up angled with bent knees, 10x Negative chin-ups, Barbell rows Thursday LEGS: Squat, Lunge, Romanian Deadlift Pilates class most Monday evenings Walking: Office days: to the station and over the river at the other end (~2mile total) WfH days: 2 miles at lunch or after work Sat/Sun: 2 miles min Teethbrushing squat: Basically my evening teethbrushing I do a held squat for 2min I have also just got a bicycle, so would like to incorporate this! THE CHALLENGE Exercise: Pre-work run: move to cutting the 'walk' so my final week of the challenge is all run Pre-work pilates hundred - improve form Weight training - carry on carrying on Pilates class OR 1hr online makeup class during the week Evening squat: move to squatting lower and/or holding for longer Walk to the station and over the river every office working day (2 miles) Walk 2 miles every WfH lunchtime/after work Walk 2 miles every Saturday and Sunday Cycle at least once a week (any distance!) Foods: Continue on mfp tracking 1600 calories a day. From today up to 28th November I currently have the following things which are likely to scupper/lead to overeating: 24th Oct: Niece's birthday party, usually full of buffet food, cakes and biscuits (this will be tough) 31st Oct: Boardgaming at a friends, which usually involves takeaway - might be doable 6-7th Nov: I might be going away for the weekend, but as yet undecided so we shall see 10th Nov: Theme Park day - I'm hoping I can make a packed lunch and not buy snacks I think that's it. And I think all of these are pretty much manageable, except this Sunday where all the sugar. POINTS AND SCORING Complete all morning and evening workouts in a week (run, hundred, squat) = 100pts Complete all weight sessions and pilates in a week = 100pts Complete 2 miles of walking every day = 100pts for the week Any of the above missed get NIL PWA, but I can make them back for 75pts instead Cycle once a week = 50pts Max exercise points = 2100pts Under calories every day for a week = 100 points Under calories six days out of the week = 75 points Under calories five days out of the week = 50 points Day over 1600 but under 1700 = minus 5 points Day over 1600 but stayed relatively health = minus 10 points Day over 1600 and splurged = minus 25 points Two weeks under cals in a row = 50 bonus pts All six weeks under = 50 extra bonus pts Max food points = 900pts Total possible points = 3000pts

So for the next 2 weeks(9/11 - 9/25) I will be leaving sunny wonderful Florida to spend time at my cabins in Wisconsin. Highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. It is going to be quite the change. Goals for the challenge Workout of some sort daily 10k steps daily Eat whole foods(mostly paleo with limited dairy and maybe one whole grain serving daily). Two travel days are cheatish days(morning food and some beer). Also some freeze dried camping food reviews for content. I may choose to have whiskey once while up at the cabins but other than that strict. Daily hobby 50XP of Duolingo daily Read 10ish pages Post a picture of dinner Examples of WODs Ruck Run Circuit training Weight lifting Hobbies Minis Content creation(youtube videos and launch channel) Fishing Model rockets Building things(fish tank stand) Board games Currently also running a PvP warm up for Rucktober. I need to market Rucktober and get some sign ups. The PvP for the warm up is here if anyone is interested.

Back again, trying for some consistency. 2021 is/was meant to be the year of health for me (where I sort out everything I keep putting off and start my 30s in peak condition- one year, git gud). The big three: sleep, eat, exercise, continue to be things I struggle with and it’s already May. Technically the 1 year till I’m 30 started on the 3rd, so let’s start kicking some health goals. I have been putting time and energy into getting all the tests I’d been putting off (eyes tested and glasses ordered, ears tested and fine, gyno done and awaiting results, dentist done and need to do another X-ray and go back, in regular therapy, been seeing the physio weekly for my jacked shoulder, waiting on a halter ecg so we can find out if the heart palpitations are anxiety or something that needs more tests, have a rough timeline to transition off these anxiety meds and to something a bit less brutal). I am consistently grateful that healthcare is so subsidised in this country, my therapy/physio are under $100/visit, the eyes ears and gyno tests all free (have to pay for the actual glasses but that seems fair), the dentist was really the only ouchie one and that is nothing compared to some of the gofundme pages I have seen to support healthcare elsewhere. I’ve been making some progress with Zombies Run couch to 5k and have been enjoying the story and the increase in fitness. I bought myself some shoes as a reward- actual ‘go to a shop and get fitted’ ones- which is new for me. I have my eye on a fitness watch as my final loot partially for the heart rate monitoring (anyone have one they love that seems super accurate for heart rate tracking?) Ive been going to the gym once per week (banned from boxing by the physio as that’s what did my shoulder... which is actually my bicep that runs through the shoulder apparently:o ), have got cleared to go back up to twice per week with the personal trainer. Shoulder was bad, now I’m almost better- but I have daily exercises I need to do to stretch it out and strengthen my back muscles to take more of the load. Mr broke his elbow. So he is off work for likely 6weeks. Minimum 2 (been 1 so far) before he can even think about going in for light duties (painting or holding stuff with his good hand) By our powers combined we have a functioning left and right arm 😂 I am unhappy with my weight. I have gained 20kg/44lb in 4 years and I would like to shed at least that much, possibly 30kg (depending on muscle/body comp). I think that is too much to lose in one year without drastic measures but 12kg (1/month or 2/month on : 0/month off) seems reasonable and attainable. My medication is known for making it easy to put on weight and tough to lose it, but that is no excuse to eat way too much and then cry about not being able to button my jeans. ok, think that basically sums up everything, so challenge goals: - Do your checklist - Do the physio exercises - Cardio - MyFitnessPal the food (did today as a baseline and hit over 2200 without feeling like I was particularly pigging out... so a fair amount of room for improvement), no goal number aimed for at this stage, I need to do some maths first.

Walk to Mordor and Back Again (2021) Whether you have been trekking to Mordor for years or just looking to get started, you are welcome to join us at anytime. All miles/kilometers count. You decide how you want to accumulate distance. This is your adventure! (Frodo's journey included canoeing, horseback, and eagle-back, so anything is fair game!) Sign Up Here: SPREADSHEET Open the spreadsheet, click on the 'Sign Up' tab at the bottom of the page, fill in all fields labeled in yellow, and begin tracking and logging your distance in the appropriate monthly tab. “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - Bilbo Baggins

Walk to Mordor and Back Again (2020) Whether you have been trekking to Mordor for years or just looking to get started, you are welcome to join us at anytime. All miles/kilometers count. You decide how you want to accumulate distance. This is your adventure! (ex. my journey has included walking/steps, hiking, running, biking (distance/3), and swimming (distance*3)) Begin Your Journey Now! SPREADSHEET Open the spreadsheet, click on the 'Sign Up' tab at the bottom of the page, fill in all fields labeled in yellow, and begin tracking and logging your distance in the appropriate monthly tab. “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - Bilbo Baggins

Last challenge was about surviving a hectic April and May. While I survived, I managed to raise a lot of questions. This challenge will be the first steps towards getting those questions answered. Question #1: Reducing carbs has been great for my blood sugars. Could a ketogenic diet be even better? I've read numerous studies on the subject now. All of them seem to suggest that keto is a great way for folks with diabetes (and everyone in general) to control their blood sugar. The downside as I see it, is trying to stay on such a diet in the Western world while everyone around is no where close to it...including your own family. So, my goal is to begin transitioning to keto and see how it goes. If it goes well, I will continue down this path as long as things continue to go well. The first step, will be to watch net carbs and work on getting them lower. I will most likely be eating too much protein and not enough fat to get to ketosis. It will likely look very Paleo. There are a couple of apps I'm going to try out on my phone to see if they are more helpful than MyFitnessPal has been. Not that it hasn't been helpful, but it is lacking in this regard. My goal is to be under 60 net carbs by challenge end. Question #2: I love running, so I don't want to give it up. I also really like lifting heavy things. Notice the difference? Guess which one wins out when time gets short? Lifting heavy things has a better long term effect on my blood sugar numbers. Can I figure out a way to make it a habit as much as running is? Another case for technology perhaps? Well, maybe not quite like that. There are a couple of apps I'm looking at trying out this/future challenge(s). The first one is going to be an app called FitBod. I've always done my own lifting routines. I'm going to try to follow someone else's. I like how this app takes into account your goals and recent progress and comes up with the next workout in the progression for you. Kinda feels like having a personal trainer. My goal is to get 3 strength building workouts in per week (and however many miles I can fit in between, last week was 12 the week before was 6.5) Question #3: Quiet time and stress relief seem hard to come by. Can I come up with a way/schedule to allow for the time? I should probably turn to technology for this as well. We'll see. But, for now, I'm going to work on giving myself 15-30 minutes a day of time to just reflect. That's it. That's the whole goal. 15-30 minutes a day. Question #4: I've had a lot of people asking me questions over the last few months, thanks to my appearance change. There are a lot more people with diabetes than I ever knew, and a lot of them have no idea where to start or begin to make lifestyle changes. Is there something I can do to help them out? I've been toying with the idea of a blog specifically for this. The problem is there are a lot of blogs out there. To the point that they seem to add to the confusion. When everyone seems to have an opinion that runs counter to everyone else, who do you trust? I think my best answer to that is to simply answer the questions people have been asking me in person. What do you eat now? What does your exercise regimen look like? How did you find something that works for you so well? In truth, these are questions I got from both of the doctors as well. So, I'm going to start something and see if it has any legs.

The Rangers and people from other guilds, that have been around for a while (at least 2 years i just checked) could know that, in my past, i have dedicated a few challenges in a row to prepping for my first StrongViking Beast obstacle run in the start of 2016. Those were pretty successful challenges, so now i'm summoning the strength of that format again. Because, frankly, things need to be done. You can also say i'm slowly starting to get frightened a bit by the endeavor i have set upon. For the people that don't know, a few facts: *** * T-minus: ~ 23 weeks / 154 days *** * Rat Race Dirty Weekend 2018 *** * UK obstacle run *** * 20 miles *** * 200 obstacles *** * Meeting all the Epic Nerds IRL for the first time!!! There are a couple of things i want to accomplish before that time, and one way or the other i tried to put it all into a spreadsheet which i will upkeep daily. (WIP) A little explanation about all the things: Weeks / Days: Countdowntimers to keep me focused on the time left KCAL/d: I want to be just under 2000 KCAL a day, this is just under maintenance, which will allow me to lose some fat, and keep up with working out. I need to lose some weight to be able to handle all the bodyweight related exercises better, like hanging pulling jumping etc. etc. Protein/d: I don't want to lose the muscle i have built the last couple of years, so protein will be the most important nutrient that i will keep my eye on. Doing 160+ a day is just a little under 2gr/lbs of bodyweight. Drinking/d: I know this is not going to be much of a problem (especially compared to 2 years ago), but i know that if i don't mention this here a few days will be lost due to excessive drinking. Now i rate this on a scale of no / mindful / less than mindful. This gives me some leeway to enjoy the occasional beer. Cause a challenge has to be hard, but you don't need to set yourself up for failure, especially when the drawback (of a single beer) is that low. This untraining of my beer-habit also makes me a bit afraid of the race itself, i owe it to some people to thoroughly enjoy several beers on friday and saturday that i really am getting a bit scared of having to do the 20 miles and 200 obstacles while having a major beer-induced headache. Eat healthy/d: B/L/D a.k.a. Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner. These are the only moments i will eat. The only exception here will be stuff around workout like PWO, recovery drinks and protein shakes. Again this will be scored for doing the best i can. "Best option" means that there was no way i could have eaten healthier given the circumstance at that moment. "Mindfully" means that there might have been a better option which i didn't take but i made a conscious choice not to have that, but also chose not to take the worst option. This is a choice i frequently have to make. I'm not one for meal prepping (yet). And i also don't want to give my kids a bad example by doing some extreme dieting and in their presence i will eat normally but try to do so as healthy as possible. No CC: No Candy no Cooky, no inbetween snacking. This means i just eat at B/L/D and nothing else. This should bring a halt to several of my weaknesses. Especially the one that hit's me after snoozing on the couch, somehow i always wake up with such a sweettooth and stuff my face with cookies or candy just before i go to bed. It will also help in not accumulating those small extra KCALs throughout the day. Lift / Run / Crossfit: These are the workouts i'm gonna do, and my goal is to give them equal attention. I always leaned on lifting more than running, and combining running with lifting was pretty doable. Now that i have CF in the mix it's hard to give running the proper attention. That's why i decided i'm gonna lay down a bit on the lifting and sacrifice one lifting workout for one extra running workout. Even the lifting workout will be geared towards the Rat Race. I'm gonna keep on doing the juggernaut program, and i will do a workout of DL/BP and SQ/OHP + 2 accessory exercises. This program will be written out coming weekend. This also goes for the running workout. I'm gonna go look for a plan that get's me to run about 10 miles within my ~20 weeks i've got. Extra Reps: I just like the idea of doing extra. So this is the excuse to do extra reps, and i'm going to categorize them as hard medium and easy. Hard ones are things i can only do a few of, like pullups. Medium are things like pushups, i can push those out a lot more. And easy ones are the things that i feel i could do all day (and actually have done so), like jumping jacks and mountain climbers. Scoring points are as follows, per rep: Hard 10 points / medium 5 points / easy 1 point. Weight / BF%: These will be here to record how my overall weight and BF% will transition throughout my prep. OSM: OSM a.k.a. Awesome. An awesome day, where i have been completely focused or something else significant happened, will be noted here. I'm hoping a lot of x'es in this column. Comments on missed goals and OSM days: Part of the pressure of accountability, if i fuck up, i have to come clean. Tell how and why i fucked up a goal. On the other hand, this is the place to gloat about awesome days too! So if you want to be part of this success please add some accountability. Nag my ass over things i haven't done or when i tell you i don't feel up to working out. Challenge me (that won't work i can assure you) or find some other way to get under my skin. I'm hoping with the help of you all this will be another good (set of) challenge(s) and i will get my butt in gear to kick ass on the Rat Race. May the lord have mercy on my body So...

Hey y'all! I'm back after (another) hiatus. The short story: I had a year-long internship that was pretty rough in a lot of ways (you can read the sordid story of how I used my challenge back in January to help survive a bad several months' worth of depression), and went until I returned to my grad program this past August. I took a shot at getting another challenge going after that, but I didn't really have the mental or emotional steam to do another once my life had started to get more normal again. August, I made it back to school. I'd been exercising a bit throughout the year, although not staying in the greatest shape in the world - eating well most of the time, but generally just staying at basic running fitness, and going for pretty regular short hikes. Transitioning back into classes (and city life here in DC), I dropped most of that for about the first half of this semester. The damage of that inactivity added up pretty fast. I knew I needed to draw a line when I was feeling sore and uncomfortable literally just trying to sleep - I'd been sitting around for lectures and work so much that I was just that stiff. So I finally managed to slowly start some activity again - doing stretching and mobility a la Gymnastic Strength Training, and building my old running routine back in. Some weeks back, I think I hit a tipping point where, for whatever reason, I just decided I was tired of the mediocrity. I've had a lot of fun with athletics, and obstacle racing in particular, so I've decided to take that to the next level. In the past, I always did best when I could shoot for a milestone, and now the milestones are getting a bit scary... for example, in terms of straight-up mileage, the only main race length I haven't done yet is a full marathon (I did the Rock N Roll Half Marathon two years ago), and I've enjoyed two Tough Mudders. At this point, I'd rather seriously commit and see if I can survive something really intense, and get in really good shape for it, instead of just muddling along like I've been doing for months now. In sum, I have two major athletic goals that I legitimately intend to accomplish in 2018, barring serious injury or life crises: - Run the Rock N' Roll Marathon in March. - Complete a Spartan Race Trifecta (all three main lengths of their obstacle race series). I haven't done any of these yet, but I know they'll push me to a much higher level of overall fitness and strength. The one I've really got my eye on is the Colorado Rockies Beast, a half-marathon-length obstacle race at high elevation in the mountains. (Yikes!) The races I have in mind start in June. Basically, any challenges I do in the next year will probably be working toward these goals in different ways, but having the accountability of this community again would be awesome. Also, since this is going to take me out of the pure running world and into a lot of strength and crosstraining, who better to have along for the ride than the Rangers? (I thought of Iron Man for this challenge because he kind of reminds me of how I think of obstacles in general - with enough forethought, planning, and preparation, you don't have to have superpowers to overcome a difficult task!) All that being said, here are my main goals - keeping in mind that this month's challenge will be going right up through Christmas break: - Run! Run faster!: Running's a big part of my workout plan (really the main part right now). Goal is to get two short runs and one long training run done each week. No excuses. - Throwing my weight around: I'm just starting to work in some strength and bodyweight exercises as part of the exercise regime. Goal here will be two workouts of some kind in addition to the runs, always including a stretch/warmup and probably with a lot of Gymnastic Strength Training-type exercises. I might work in more Spartan-specific exercises as time goes on. - Diet: I'm really struggling with the food situation I'm in right now. I've got a mandatory meal plan as part of my program, and it's compounded by the fact that I have several mild allergies (and pretty serious gluten intolerance) that make it very hard to eat a balanced meal AND not get sick trying to eat the food here. Oh, and the dining hall people have zero clue about how allergen awareness actually works, so that isn't helping. My goal is to basically make it through five days a week having definitely avoided anything that would make me any sicker... This will probably be one of the hardest goals, honestly. - Pass my classes?: Oh yeah, and for half of this challenge I'll be doing final papers and exams. Yay? I guess I should try and make sure those get done... Here we go! (And thanks for stopping by.)

So I've run off and on over the past year as I've increased activity and was able to run. Often fluctuated around 8-10 minute miles pretty consistently (once I could actually run a mile). Got kind of hooked on the fitbit's 'cardio fitness score' and was happy that I was in the "good" range. Stopped running about 2 months ago when I switched over from the beginner's bodyweight circuits (had added dumbells, so not really 'bodyweight' anymore) over to stronglifts 5x5. Decided to run after my session this morning as I had a little time. First mile was 7'02! And I never got into "peak" zone (dunno if that's good or not) (that's the first woot). Second woot is that after the run, my 'cardio fitness' score was a 51...or "Very Good." Woot woot, I love little perks and achievements like this

I had so much fun with the Rebels during my respawn challenge - and my life is still weird enough - that I think I'll hang around here a little longer! Thinking about my last challenge, I was reminded more than anything of one of the big themes of the lovely Undertale - "Determination". If you haven't played the game, it's more than just gritting your teeth and carrying on; it's a force that lets the characters come back from the brink of death, and even rewrite their own stories and those of the other characters in their world. For those who weren't following along for the last one, I was basically respawning on the tail end of a nasty few months with depression. It went really well (thank goodness), and I'm doing better than I have in a while, maybe since around this time last year. I was working on rewriting my story, as it were. I wasn't sure whether or how to do this challenge, since I'll be leaving next week for my annual week-off-the-grid on retreat, which I expect to be a wonderful time. The tricky thing about those trips away is that they tend to mess with my routine when I get back, so I think that's going to be my focus for the challenge: staying determined (especially once I get back), and locking down the benefits that I'm starting to see from the new and renewed habits I built last month. Also, y'know, it gives me an excuse to post about Undertale. Thus, the goals: Cooking with Undyne I've been eating a lot of good food the last several weeks, but my cooking has been getting a bit repetitive. We can't have that; cooking is one of my favorite hobbies! This challenge, my goal is to try two new recipes per week (aside from the week I'm away) and post photos and instructions where applicable. Yum! Showtime with Mettaton One of my favorite parts about last challenge was getting into a solid routine of practicing my guitar, and seeing lots of progress. I even learned, recorded and posted a song (?!). In addition to keeping up with this habit, I'm going to make it a goal to complete three online technique lessons per week either in guitar or mandolin, which I'm hoping to start learning in the next few weeks. More bonus achievements like last time (and extra ratings for Mettaton) if I record another song for posterity. Training with Toriel It's important to be ready for when the monsters attack. I've been doing lots of crosstraining to get ready for a couple of upcoming races (a 10k on April 1, and a Tough Mudder in June), and I'm still in the process of getting comfortable with a more regular workout routine again. I don't want to set any particular goals yet for the mix of running vs. weights or outdoor adventures, since I had fun doing lots of each last challenge, but I want to aim for at least four workouts per week. Tea with Muffet Finally, I need to keep working on rebuilding some of the social connections that fell by the wayside when I was fighting my way out of my cave of misery. This goal is to do something social with at least two friends during each week, or at the minimum track them down for a proper phone/Skype conversation. (Thanks to everyone who keeps following along!)

Good Afternoon Rebels! I need some suggestions for Music for a play list. I just downloaded the App “Zombie Run” so that I can have another thing to motivate me run, hike, etc. It is also a little themely with Halloween right around the corner. Music I am looking for is some Zombie Apocalypse butt kicking music. Let me know what you got?

I get lost in adventure novels (no I haven't read this original work yet), but don't really lead an adventurous life. Like Trevor it would probably have to creep up on me and let me fall in to it. With me choosing to take part in a beginner's OCR - The Muddy Princess - I am making the effort to go out and find a bit of adventure. I want to be Hannah however. The Go-Get-It-Girl! So for this challenge Hannah does the training - no hesitation, push through it, she can do anything, and she always comes up with a plan. Trevor is good, but he doesn't always get all the things done. He will concentrate on water and sleep, the essentials. Shaun is a teenager and they (from what I've heard) are sometimes stubborn. I'm going to need him to help me with food. Together we'll face this adventure at the Centre of the Earth, and come out strong and daring to face the OCR, and any other adventures that might occur. TRAINING with Hannah BW Strength: OCR workout. 2x/week - 6x at least for 85% to pass. Cardio: Run/Walk 2x/week - 6x at least for 85% to pass. Mobility Stretches: - 6x at least for 85% to pass. ESSENTIALS with Trevor Water/Rooibos/Herbal tea: 5/7 days a week. Min. 20 days, 80% to pass. Sleep (at least 7hours a night) 5/7 days a week. Min. 20 days, 80% to pass. FOOD with Shaun <50g net carbs per day. 5/7 days a week. By end of challenge 25 days at least. Includes 4 variances for a chocolate or something (thinking shark week or just really want something). Banting approved snacks obviously doesn't count as a variance, but their carbs will count towards my daily carb limit. Knowingly eating gluten, I immediately loose the day even if my carbs were < 50g. A variance cannot be used to eat gluten. Gluten = flesh eating plants! INJURY PROTOCOLS I sprained my ankle while doing the first OCR workout for this challenge during Week 0. I've deleted the previous protocols as they don't really apply. I've decided not to count week 0 as part of the challenge. Will take the rest of the challenge as it comes.

Hello all! It's been quite some time since I was last part of the scouts or the NF community. You may remember me from my previous account, username "Sora". I made a post HERE yesterday detailing my absence and change of account. Regardless, I'm back, and that's what's important! Part of the reason I'm starting this challenge a few days late is my account troubles, but I figure better late than never. So Let's Go! This Summer, I'm completing an internship in Japan, near Kyoto. Some of you may remember my challenges from the past that led up to my first trip to Japan, and I'm really happy to be back in this amazing place. However, I have found that I haven't been living a very productive life while I have been here. It's been almost a month, and I'm sick of being unproductive and wasting this amazing opportunity to improve myself. So, for this challenge, I have decided to channel Saitama from One Punch Man and work towards a better me through aggressive repetition. Goal 1: Workout! Rather than taking Saitama's workout directly (100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats, and 10 k of running everyday for three years), I'll be adapting it so fit my my current fitness level and timetable: Run 5 days a week, and incorporate body weight exercises... week 1: 2 days / week 2: 3 days / week 3: 4 days / week 4: 5 days The idea is to get back into running consistently again, while adding in some other moves to make myself more well rounded. I'm hoping to try out some types of fitness in the next year, so the body weight work (primarily push ups, squats, and sit ups) should help me gain some strength outside of distance running and improve my overall fitness level. There is also a good chance that I'll be climbing Mr. Fuji in July during my trip to Tokyo, so I'll need all the strength I can get! Goal 2: Cook! Cook 1 meal a day at least six days a week. At least one recipe must be new each week. This is my first time living and cooking 100% on my own for an extended period of time, and I've been wasting a lot of money the last few weeks eating out. The food here is AMAZING, but I need to start eating a little healthier and economically. My Goal here is to expand my cooking ability through consistently cooking and trying new recipes. One of my ideas for the next four week challenge is to work towards a paleo diet, but I think the first step towards this goal should be simply cooking in general. Goal 3: Hydrate! Drink 100 Ounces of Water a day, and limit soft drinks to once a day. At home in Michigan, I'm usually much better about staying hydrated. However, since my lifestyle changed significantly when I moved here, I have found myself drinking less. It's also much hotter and humid here than I am used to (yay rainy season!), so it's even more important that I am intentional about my hydration. I also need to try to avoid the many options that the plethora of vending machines here have to offer (Japan has the highest ratio of vending machines to landmass of any nation worldwide). I have downloaded the "iHydrate" app to track my progress. Life Goal: Daily Routine Complete at least three of the following each day, and complete all of them at least: Week 1: 1 time Week 2: 2 times Week 3: 3 times Week 4: 4 times Tasks: Read (20 minutes), Vlog (Film one video OR Edit one video), Study Japanese ( 1.5 hours), Clean (including laundry, dishes, etc. Basically anything in my apartment), Adventure (go somewhere I have never been before), Draw (1 completed sketch of 30 minutes working on full drawing) I have a lot of things I want to accomplish while I'm here, and the only way I'm going to be able to do that is by consistently practicing all of them. I've been doing fine doing them individually, but the problem for me has been giving attention to all of these things at once and finding the proper balance. So, through this goal, I'm hoping to slowly add more on to my plate and adjust to the balance gradually. IN SUMMARY: I'm hoping to slowly add more onto my plate as the challenge progresses. Through repeating everything consistently, I'm hoping to become a hero like Saitama! I'm super excited to be back among the NF community, especially the scouts. I'd love to talk more with you all, and I hope we can all reach our goals together! Let's go!

This is working for me right now so I'm going to continue with most of it. Maintenance goals: Judo twice per week as much as possible Stick to budget, track expenditures Walk 70k + steps per week Talk a day/evening off per week to spend at home Get out once/month - ECCE later this month. Guitar - three times per week if possible Sleep Get to bed by midnight on work nights and 1 am on weekend nights. Read or meditate before bed if possible. Relax Read/study/play video games. Enjoy ECCE on the 20th and 21st. Train for the Titan Challenge I registered so now I really need to train :-) Run, visit the outdoor gym at least once per week.

Last month I created new goals and refocused my efforts in order to begin making progress again. It has worked really well. I've gotten much stronger, I can run a mile and a half, my eating has improved and my weight is going down again instead of yo-yoing. I'm very pleased with the progress I've made and I'm going to continue with the plan I made last month. My parents are coming to visit for a week and a half at the end of this month which will complicate things. Because of that I'm going to make the goals monthly instead of weekly so that I can try to make up for anything I miss while they're here. Quest 1: I still want to exercise every day (including during the parents' visit) and I can still employ placeholder workouts. I also still want 4 of the workouts to be runs. This month I also want 8 of the workouts to be strength workouts. I have made a lot of progress with the Startbodyweight.com workout that I found through @Lightning so I plan to stick with that for the strength workouts. Measurement: A = 26-28 workouts, 8 strength workouts and 4 runs, B = 23-25 workouts, 6-7 strength workouts and 3 runs, C = 20-22 workouts, 4-5 strength workouts and 2 runs, D = 17-19 workouts, 2-3 strength workouts and 1 run Quest 2: The no bread rule from the last challenge went well and I'm choosing healthier carbs. I'm going to keep that up this month along with the allowed 2 variances. Another key part of the "core" program I discussed in the last challenge was to eat until "satisfied" not "stuffed". I actually think that was the most useful thing I learned from the program and I made that part of my very first challenge at NF. Unfortunately I've backslid from that, particularly in the last few months. I worked on this some last month, but not as part of the challenge. I did well most of the time, but it's definitely not a habit and needs more work. I used this scale in my first challenge and that's what I've been using for the past month. I'll rate my hunger before and after every meal and snack. I won't eat if my hunger is higher than 4 and I won't eat past a 5 or 6. I'll calculate the percentage of time that I stuck to these guidelines to grade my progress. Measurement: A = 8 or less variances, within my ratings 90-100% of the time, B = 9 variances, within my ratings 80-89% of the time, C = 10 variance, within my ratings 70-79% of the time, D = 11 variances, 60-69% of the time Quest 3: I've decided to up my average steps to 10,500 steps. It's not a big jump but since I shoot for an average I didn't want to do too big of a jump. Instead of trying to average 10,500 steps each week, I want to average 10,500 steps for the month. That will give me a little more leeway during the parents' visit. After this month I'll go back to a weekly average. Measurement: A = Average 10,500 steps for the 4 weeks of the challenge, B = Avg 9,500-10,499 for the 4 weeks of the challenge, C = Average 8,500-9,499 steps for the 4 weeks of the challenge, D = Average 7,500-8,499 steps for the 4 weeks of the challenge Life Quest: I'm continuing the produce goal for this challenge. It had a lot of benefits and I want to make sure this has become a habit before I start keeping up with it outside of a challenge. I'll continue to measure it the same as before. I'll make a note of each of the different types of fruit and veggies I buy and then decide how much of each type I throw away. For example let's say I bought 10 different types of fruits and veggies. Then I threw away half the broccoli, a quarter of the lettuce and all of the oranges. That would mean I threw out 17.5% of the produce. Freezing stuff (if it's freezable) before it goes bad is allowed. Measurement: A = Throw out 10% or less of the produce I buy, B = Throw out 10.1%-20% of the produce I buy, C = Throw out 20.1%-30% of the produce I buy, D = Throw out 30.1% - 40% of the produce I buy

How tough are you? Are you one tough mudder? My sister and I have signed up for the Tough Mudder run in Central Texas. It is to take place in Smithville, about 2 hours outside of Houston. My sister and I are going to volunteer on the 21st and run it (on a volunteer discount) on the 22nd. We are looking for two things: 1) Nerds who want to run this mug with us. (neither my sister nor I are going to run the whole distance, we are not scouts ;)) 2) A place to stay near the location. I am kind of poor and can't afford to spend too much money on lodging, but if you let us crash at your place, I will clean your house/apartment/whatever Friday night in appreciation for a place to stay. We will likely arrive Friday afternoon, be gone most of Saturday and Sunday, and leave Sunday evening. You are more than welcome to be on our team, but you don't have to come to the run if you don't want to! Love you guys, hope to hear back!

This challenge is going to be about getting back into good fitness/life habits and also focusing on more environmentally-friendly habits in honour of Earth Day, which falls on the 22nd of the month. As such, my quests are... Quest 1. Get outside! This goal exists because in March I barely went outside except to go places (e.g. the store). I would like to make sure I get some quality time (at least 30 minutes) outside each day. This goal includes going out for a run, but also walking/hiking in a park or even just wandering around the city in principle. As long as I don't have a super specific goal and I use my feet to send me on my way, it counts. Grading: A = 22+ days, B = 17-21 days, C = 11-16 days Statistics: +2 DEX, +2 CON Quest 2. Yoga! Yes, back to yoga. I lapsed on it while I was sick and have failed to resume it as a consistent habit. I will aim for five yoga sessions a week. I'm not going to be measuring the amount of time or anything, but I will be aiming for quality time with my yoga mat. Grading: A = 16+ yoga sessions, B = 12-15 yoga sessions, C = 8-11 yoga sessions Statistics = +2 STR, +2 CON Quest 3: Return of the poi! As there is more daylight out, I feel like this is something I should do now. My new place doesn't quite have the space for it (all the lights hang from the ceiling, which suggests it's a terrible idea), so it will have to happen outside, which makes it somewhat weather dependent, but I can spin in the drizzle so it's probably fine. I'll aim for 30 minutes a week of poi. Grading: A = 96+ minutes of poi, B = 72-95 minutes of poi, C = 48-71 minutes of poi Statistics: +1 DEX, +3 CHA Life Quest A: Waste not... Produce no unnecessary food waste. This means that what gets bought gets eaten, with the exception of the bits and pieces that normally aren't edible. So basically, I'm aiming to avoid letting things go bad. Grading: Pass = no unnecessary food waste produced; Fail = I throw something out that just went bad Statistics: +1 WIS Life Quest B: ...want not. Buy nothing (other than food/drink/non-material things) that's both new and unnecessary. If it's just something I would like to have, but don't need I'll buy it used if I buy it at all. Obviously the definitions of want and need are somewhat subjective, but if some emergency comes up (e.g. my washing machine eats my sports bra; I get a job that requires me to dress all fancy every day; if my laptop dies etc) and I actually need to buy something that's difficult to find used, then I need to be able to do so, but I'm not going to buy something that's new which I really don't need. Grading: Pass = no unnecessary new purchases; Fail = unnecessary new purchases Statistics: +2 WIS

I've been on this health/fitness journey for exactly two years now. Over the last few months I've kept up with things, but I haven't really been challenging myself very much. My big overarching goal when I started two years ago was to feel better and to be able to do more. Not very specific I know, but I succeeded! Far beyond what I thought I could do. Even though I knew I wasn't where I wanted to be I stopped trying so hard. I've kept up with things enough that I haven't lost any ground in fact I've lost a few more pounds. Reading other peoples threads and peelout asking me what my goals were forced me to step back and realize that I've stopped making any real forward progress because I didn't know where I was going. So I sat down and determined what my new goals were and this time I was specific. I purposely did not make any weight goals. I believe that as I work toward my goals the weight will naturally take care of itself. I still don't want to take on too much at once, because I want to create habits. I sat down and made a list of six healthy eating changes and six exercise habits that I think will help me reach my goals. For the rest of the year I will tackle one healthy eating change and one exercise habit in a challenge. Every third challenge I will work on maintaining the habits from the previous months but will not add any new ones. That is how I started two years ago and it worked really well. Usually after a couple of months there will be at least one habit that needs a little more work and this way I have time to work on it, instead of trying to add new habits on top of unstable ground. Quest 1: I still want to exercise every day and I can still employ placeholder workouts as needed. My elbow is not healed yet so I'm keeping the type of exercise open for the most part. One workout a week however, MUST be a run or a run/walk depending on the distance. Measurement: A = 26-28 workouts and 4 runs, B = 23-25 workouts and 3 runs, C = 20-22 workouts and 2 runs, D = 17-19 workouts and 1 run Quest 2: Several years ago I did the Weight Watchers Core program. There was a "core" list of foods that you could eat as much as you wanted and everything else required "points". There were certainly problems with it (too much fat free and artificially sweetened) but I have honestly never felt as good as I felt when I ate that way. The majority of the core foods were fruits, veggies, lean meats, fat free dairy, eggs, and whole "intact" grains. I'm going to do a little experimenting with my diet but I know that this general framework works well for me. I've tried going back to this before, but I haven't been able to maintain it. I think it was partly because I was trying to change everything at once and partly because, without the "points", I didn't have a firm limit for eating outside the plan. This time I'm starting with eliminating bread instead of going cold turkey. I'm also borrowing the term "variance" from Tank and I'm allowing myself 2 variances a week. Bread includes bread, rolls, buns, tortillas, cake, pie and cookies; essentially anything baked and made with any kind of flour. I actually am making some other changes to my diet right now, but none of the others are "required". If I fall off the wagon with them there is no guilt and it has no effect on the challenge. If I succeed, YAY! And I'll probably need to rework my plans for later challenges. Measurement: A = 8 or less variances, B = 9 variances, C = 10 variance, D = 11 variances Quest 3: I'm sticking with the 10,000 step average a week. Later on I'll probably increase the amount of steps but I'm definitely sticking with averaging the steps over the week. Measurement: A = Average 10,000 steps all 4 weeks, B = Avg 10,000 for 3 weeks, D = Avg 10,000 for 2 weeks Life Quest: Every time I get groceries I have great plans to eat lots and lots of produce, so I buy lots and lots of produce. Sometimes it works out well and I use most of it. Other times it doesn't work so well and I end up throwing a lot of it away. Sometimes it doesn't work at all and I might as well have set fire to the money I spent for all the good it does me. So for this quest I'm going to throw out no more than 10% of the produce I buy. This is a tough one to measure. I decided to make a note of each of the different types of fruit and veggies I buy and then decide how much of each type I throw away. For example let's say I bought 10 different types of fruits and veggies. Then I threw away half the broccoli, a quarter of the lettuce and all of the oranges. That would mean I threw out 17.5% of the produce. It's not exact by any means, but it's the easiest way to track it that I can come up with. Freezing stuff (if it's freeezable) before it goes bad is allowed. That may lead to another quest down the road where I have to eat the stuff I froze, but that's a worry for another day. Measurement: A = Throw out 10% or less of the produce I buy, B = Throw out 10.1%-20% of the produce I buy, C = Throw out 20.1%-30% of the produce I buy, D = Throw out 30.1% - 40% of the produce I buy

I desperately want to focus on sleep this Challenge (I really need to), but I'm not going to start leaving work any earlier, which means that the only thing I'm able to sacrifice to increase sleep is family time. I MIGHT be able to pull off 7 hours/night though...if I'm really disciplined. Maybe... Start doing PT with my unit at least once a week. This is a case where I probably won't get as much of a workout as when I work out on my own or with the CrossFit class here, but it would be good for me to PT with my soldiers more often. Run once a week in some shape or form and ruck at least every other week. I have a team mud run and potentially a GORUCK or two coming up in future months, in addition to the fact that I need to get into rucking shape for next March. I also have a few workouts that I want to knock out by the end of this challenge. They're benchmark workouts that I either have never tested or have been wanting to test for some time now: Fran (re-test for first time since 2013) 21-15-9 Thrusters at 95# Pull-ups Zeus (re-test for first time since 2013) 3 Rounds For Time (RFT) 30 Wall Balls, 20/14 lbs 30 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, 75/55 lbs 30 Box Jumps, 20 in 30 Push Press, 75/55 lbs 30 Row Calories 30 Push-ups 10 Back Squats, 1x bodyweight Lumberjack 20 (1st time) 20 Deadlifts (275lbs/185lbs) Run 400m 20 KB swings (2pood/1.5pood) note: 1 pood = 16 kg = 35# Run 400m 20 Overhead Squats (115lbs/75lbs) Run 400m 20 Burpees Run 400m 20 Pullups (Chest to Bar) Run 400m 20 Box jumps (24″/20″) Run 400m 20 DB Squat Cleans (45lbs/30lbs each) Run 400m Murph (1st time) 1 mile Run 100 Pull-ups 200 Push-ups 300 Squats 1 mile Run Helen (1st time) 3 RFT: Run, 400 m 21 Kettlebell Swings, 1.5/1 pood 12 Pull-ups Also need to knock out the first two Open WODs and probably re-do the third. Open WOD 16.1 20 min AMRAP: 25' Walking Overhead Lunge (95# barbell) 8 Bar-facing Burpees 25' Walking Overhead Lunge (95# barbell) 8 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups Open WOD 16.2 Beginning on a 4-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of: 25 toes-to-bars 50 double-unders 15 squat cleans, 135 / 85 lb. If completed before 4 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to: 25 toes-to-bars 50 double-unders 13 squat cleans, 185 / 115 lb. If completed before 8 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to: 25 toes-to-bars 50 double-unders 11 squat cleans, 225 / 145 lb. If completed before 12 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to: 25 toes-to-bars 50 double-unders 9 squat cleans, 275 / 175 lb. If completed before 16 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to: 25 toes-to-bars 50 double-unders 7 squat cleans, 315 / 205 lb. Stop at 20 minutes. Open WOD 16.3 7 min AMRAP: 10 Power Snatches (75#) 3 Bar Muscle-ups This Challenge seems kind of weak, in that it doesn't have any daily or performance goals, but this one is more about establishing a little bit of consistency. The next one will be more in-depth.

Let's do it. I have been trying to get in better shape for a while. I used to be more active but a lot of people say that. It is hard sometimes to remember where I used to be in many aspects of my life. I want to be more reliable physically, increase my endurance and strength and become more capable physically and mentally. There are so many resources out there and I want to use them efficiently and NF is one of those communities I want to be an active part of. i'm going to try to keep up the theme of 'official /technical reporting' in my challenges, mostly as a creative exercise. First Challenge [02/29/16 - 03/25/16] Code Name: "Nemean Lion" Main Quest: Increase physical activity and improve fuel source utilization S.M.A.R.T Quests: i) Reduce soda and sugary beverage intake to x ≤ 12 fl. oz. in one day ii) Ensure fruit intake to x > 1 cup in one day and vegetable intake to x > 1 cup in one day iii) Complete x ≥ 20 minutes of moderate cardiovascular exercise (RUNNING/JOGGING) 3 times per week. Life Quest: Read x ≥ 60 minutes in one day. Reward: Submit order request: One [1] book "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six." Motivation: "it does not matter how slow you go as long as you do not stop" :HoosierNerd

This challenge is basically try and keep on with what I started last challenge, 1. SWIM: Goal is simple, swim every weekday, unless out of town. 2. BIKE, At least one 20k+ ride, MTB preferred. At least two lunch-commutes (5k round trip, on a 16-inch bike), per week 3. RUN, get back to running, or at least walk-run, Goal is two runs per week. 4. Paleo: After a Whole29 (February), I intend to keep on primal/paleo, no cheat-meals, but not get too strict either, goal is no more than 3 deviations per week (or 18 fully paleo meals), deviations must be small and meaningful (worth it).

A day late (yesterday was holiday, so...) My second challenge of the year is go back to basics, and by basics I mean swim, bike and run, oh, and paleo, my first Whole30, which ended up being something like Whole47 went great, lost some weight, felt a lot better and made some food changes that keep on two years later, BUT, some other healthy choices have become less and less common lately, so: 1. SWIM, finally, back in the pool (today was my first of the year): Goal is simple, swim every weekday, unless out of town. 2. BIKE, At least one 20k+ ride, MTB preferred. At least two lunch-commutes (5k round trip, on a 16-inch bike), per week 3. RUN, get back to running, or at least walk-run, Goal is two runs per week. 4. WholeFebruary, 28 days, grain, milk, sugar, processed food and leguminose-free. (already on day 2), no cheat meals, no exceptions (works for me!). On a side note, going back to my previous (long ago) challenges, I realized a reading goal started as a NF goal, 12 books a year, well, I did it for two years and last year I read 24, this year is 24 again and it's not even a goal anymore, it's more of a house-rule now, cool stuff.

My daughters favorite scene from RWBY is the epic food fight. That is going to be my main focus this challenge. It is my weakest link. Time to buck it up a bunch. So in my battle log I laid down my training schedule for the next 4 weeks. I have found that I have many goals and a hard time keeping focus on just one. In the next 3 challenges my fitness goals are related to staying consistent with strength work, cross training fun, and running. The only thing I am honestly upping is biking. That will be the first epic off my list this year. However I need to eat better to achieve my goals both short term and long term. So for a big change of pace the main 3 goals of my challenge are food focused and the life goal is consistency with training. That simple. Goal 1: Eat mindfully. I must work on stopping when satisfied again and making more good choices. Goal 2: Mega meal plan and track what I eat here. We plan meals but I need to be careful. We are trying out a martial arts class this Monday and if we like it we will be going weekly. This means I have to be the gal with a plan. Since that happens one day a week (and it is done for week 1 already) this goal is also going to encompass tracking my food here to keep it honest. Goal 3:Eat whole foods with only 7 servings a week of a food that is not a whole food. Free pass with plain greek yogurt and almond milk. Life goal: stay consistent and meet the training plan I laid out in my battle log for the next 4 weeks. Period. No excuses.

Gimeniux's: Take Six - A new Start Hey, remember me? I'm that girl who was getting back on track, who said she was going to make it, the one who was so close to her goal, who lost almost 13% of fat, almost 20 pounds of pure fat after a two year journey. Yes, that's me, but i'm also that girl who failed not once, not twice, but so many times i don't want to count anymore. And today i'm almost back to where i started, i haven't weight so much ever, 155lb (70kg), that's just 1lb away from being overweight. Although i have 26% of body fat, so i'm more muscle than fat, still, i'm totally off track. So without further due, here are my goals, new year, new goals, i can make it. GOAL 1 - Goodbye Facebook I suffer from depression, and Facebook is one of my triggers. I like to share stuff with friends and family, but mostly i get discourage when i spend so many hours looking at profiles, news, photos, and so. The worst part is i became a slave of the likes, and i don't want to be. I want to be happy because i am, not by how many people like my pictures, or my profile. So i have deleted my account, i don't know if it will be definetly or temporary, Facebook says i have 14 days to regret, if not they'll delete my complete account. I just make a backup to have all of my photos. It's all for my mental health. GOAL 2 - Hello 100% Paleo I love eating Paleo, because it gives me energy it doesn't make my stomach hurt, it also make wonders for my depression. When i eat clean i almost don't have any episodes. Lately i've been feeling pretty bad but that's accordingly with my bad eating habbits. I say 100% rule, because i don't do well with 80/20 it always ends up like 60/40 or 40/60. All or nothing for me, thanks. GOAL 3 - 10K i'm going to catch you! Last time i was 1K away from making it, now i'm starting my training program from cero. So first i'll do the 5K program, then catch up with the 10K. But i'll get there, i'm gonna get there. Side Quest - Salsa Lessons I love dancing, i've been taking clases, but i'm afraid i'm about to quit. I need a little push to continue, i want to make this my quest, attend to every class this month. And practice at least once apart from the class every week. MOTIVATION I've spent years looking to become the person that is within me. I want to know all of what I'm capable of. What my body could be. I don’t like to hide. I want my outside strong and imposing, to cause inspiration for me, for everyone. I want to see myself and feel that the future is worth the while. I'm doing this to smile. Want to live without getting sick. Be healthy and proud. I've been close many times. This time I will not fail.