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Greetings program! . . . wait Alright let's get to it! Goal 1 - RUNNING! Just signed up for the Oakland 2022 Marathon!!!! Got to figure out a training plan but first we have to keep the running habit happening We are looking to run 3 days a week with distances of 3 to 5 miles during the week and 5+ on the weekends. We are also signed up for a 5K on Sept 12th which should be a good test Goal 2 STRETCH To keep from having trouble running - we're going to try to do 3 days of yoga between the runs. This will likely be very low impact and boring yoga but still Goal 3 Training Plan To go with all this we need a plan, I'll be looking into what's out there and try to find what will work for us. Goal 4 Savings With our recent home purchase we are running low in our savings - so we'll be rebuilding that emergency fund while trying to figure out what's next.

I've decided it was time I started trying to work on an important skill of all Tayledras scouts*: tree-walking. Tayledras all learn to climb trees and use the massive branches of the Pelagir forests as secondary path. This leaves no trail, and allows them unseen vantage points to attack from. It also scares the crap out of people, which can be handy when you're hoping for a non-violent encounter with intruders. Violence is a waste, better for them to leave voluntarily. *Worldbuilding by Mercedes Lackey, particularly in the Mage Winds trilogy and The Owl Mage Trilogy. Main Quest: Run a 5k and master bodyweight exercises Quest 1: Run/Dance 3 times a weekFocus on speeding up my 5k time by running more of it, as well as improving my form by trying to run more quietly. Silence is an important part of tree-walking. Measurement: A = 3 times a week, B = 2 times a week, C = 1 time a weekReward: A = +3 DEX, +2 STA, B = +2 DEX, +1 STA, C = +1 DEX Quest 2: Bodyweight + Dumbell Circuits 2 times a weekWalking the trees needs leg strength and core strength to stay balanced. Focus on adding balance exercises and overall exercises like the sled. Measurement: A = 3 times a week, B = 2 time a week, C = 1 time a weekReward: A = +3 STR, + 2 STA, B = +2 STR, + 1 STA, C = +1 STR Quest 3: Pull-upsI need to be able climb the tree, and pull myself up to more conveniently oriented branches. Focus on reducing the offset on the assisted pull-up machine. Currently I'm at Level 15, and I'd like to increase to 13. I'm really not sure how much of a reach this is, so I'll adjust if needed. Measurement: A = 3 times a week, B = 2 time a week, C = 1 time a weekReward: A = +3 STR, B = +2 STR, C = +1 STR Life QuestPaying my taxes is about to drain my savings account down to the dregs. So I'm going to keep track of my food spending, and hopefully reduce it and put the balance in my savings account. If nothing else I'll be more mindful about food spending, and hopefully not go in the opposite direction and spend more (which has happened in past attempts. I'm only rebellious against myself). Cook at home 10 times a week: 0/10Reward: +2 WIS Images from Assassins Creed 3 found on the internet. If you click on them they get embiggened.

I have decided upon 5 challenges. 1) Figure out how I want to roleplay my way through this. I have an idea, but I need to research back accurate back story (yeah, I 'm one of those). +1 Wisdom 2) Limit myself to a single can of diet coke a day. Long term goal is weaning myself off it entirely. +1 Con 3) Cook myself at least 2 entirely paleo meals a week. +1 Con, +1 Cha (everyone likes a good home cooked meal) 4) Practice lightsaber forms at least 15 minutes a day. Studying videos does not count for time spent. +1 dex, +1 str 5) Lifestyle- Make my 52 week savings challenge deposits on time. I have direct deposit, so I need to actually go to the bank and get cash each week to do this. +X gp I will at some point write this up in story mode, as soon as item 1 is figured out.

As it is wont to do, life imploded during the last challenge, so I'm just pretending it didn't happen. Onward! Adventure! Excitement! Cthulhu! Join Ravnos on his ninth challenge as he battles demons, breaks PRs and continues on his merry quest for strength, honor and wisdom. Come! Join the merriment! Weep at the tragedy. Cheer on the excitement! Ninth official challenge time. Let's see where we're at with this. I've reached many of the goals I started out on NF with. I've gotten my waist to below 32 inches (and still improving) and I'm dropped my body fat considerably. However, it's time for a change. My focus now is on strength and endurance gains, as well as putting some muscle back on. GAINZ! I, of course, have the continued goals of working toward doing Salmon Ladders, dropping to 8% BF, eliminating stomach fat, squatting 1.5x body weight, deadlifting 2x body weight and OHP, Bench and Row 1x bodyweight. Last challenge kind of fell through the cracks and my life got hectic afterward, preventing me from signing on here... ever. In that time I maintained my paleo diet, participated and defeated my first Spartan Sprint and hung out with the ever-amazing, Teros. As we go into 2015, however, I'm recentering my life around what's actually important, me. This means less time stressing about a shitty job (I did not end up succeeding in my goal of getting a new job by the end of 2014... working on that) and more time on my health and personal goals. So without further ado, here are my quests for the second challenge of 2015 and my return to NF. Quest 1 - One More Rep Continue improving my lifts. My main, main focus this challenge is going to be breaking a 100lb Press. I've been plateaued between 90 and 95 pounds for a while now, and I took nearly 3 months off from the gym, so it's fallen back down to 85... Now it's time to break down my press technique and start making some real fucking progress here. Gym three times a week, no excuses, and a focus on OHP for gainz. Quest completion - 3 workouts, every week. +3 STR. Bonus: OHP 100lb 5x5. Quest 2 - Adapted Paleo I've adapted my paleo diet to improve gains, because I was struggling to stop losing weight. I added milk and potatoes back in (organic milk from grass-fed cows) and I've seen some great results. No fat increase, no gut problems and my weight went back up to 160 and stabilized. SO! the plan is 6/7 days of the week I eat modified paleo. Saturday is my cheat day, were I can have a little sugar, fruit, whatever. I still avoid gluten because it makes my gut very unhappy. Quest completion - follow diet plan 100%. +3 CON. Quest 3 - Nerd Fitness! I have failed miserably at even signing on here to check PMs since October, so it's time to get back on a regular checking/posting schedule here. My goal here is to sign on at least three times a week, update here and check friend's challenges. Let's get the gang back together... Quest completion - +3 CHA Quest 4 - Stop spending so much god damn money Try to recover from blowing some savings. Part of this will be selling some items in my home (comics, Magic The Gathering cards and vinyl). The other part is GETTING A NEW JOB. I've been doing weekly IT training with a friend of mine, so the goal here is to make sure I go every Tuesday and work on my skillz. Plain and simple. Motivation! Quest completion - Increase savings. Do job training, start applying for IT positions. +3 WIS Quest 5 - Turn on endurance I've been ignoring my endurance and conditioning for a while now, and while I felt comfortable doing the Spartan, I know I can make some marked improvements. My goal here is to do some running, once a week. Probably in the morning. I don't mind running in the cold, so we'll get this started soon. So... Quest completion - One run per week, 3-5 miles. +3 END More to come!

I know that this is very early, but starting 20 December I am travelling around Mauritius until mid Jan, so I thought I'd get my thoughts in here now and then I can update it with goals and the like closer to the time (and it'll be on my Tapatalk, lol). In 2014, I prepared to train for an endurance race, that unfortunately we couldn't get entry to (can you believe they sold out 30k entries in an hour). So instead it's given me an additional year to get fit and train for the 2016 cycle tour (if my best friend doesn't have her wedding on the day - I think she said I'm maid of honor) and make more adjustments to my lifestyle. I have 5 really big goals that I'll be focusing on this year and every little goal I make will be moving towards achieving these big goals. I've also taken the decision not to take part in a 6 week challenge in 2015, but rather to do monthly challenges here on my battle log (I will still be active in the challenges though, not going anywhere). I just need to take the time to focus on small, short goals (6 weeks sometimes feels too long). You can see my 2014 battle log to find out what worked for me and what hasn't. So the Big 5 (oh lol, just realised how funny that is me being from South Africa): Get down to 100kg (so lose 27.2kg) and/or down to a size 42/18/117cm pants Up my cycle game - at the rate i'm going, the endurance race is years away - by establishing and being firmly entrenched in a training program Have brought on enough retainer clients to quit my day job and focus on my company full time Have paid off at least R60k in debt Jan 2015: R5'747.25 paid - Total: R5'747.25 Have saved up R40k for our Holland trip and put at least R20k into an emergency/wedding fundI think they're pretty lofty, but totally attainable by the end of 2015. As long as I remain focused and disciplined (I've even worked in some wiggle room for illness, travel, emergencies etc). Here's to 2015 being a success. Challenges: v2015.1: Slowing it Down v2015.2: Month of Love

Hi all! I've done a bit with my daily battle log, and it's been up and down, as I try to work out how to get going. You know how in The Fellowship of the Ring (the book), Gandalf tells Frodo about the ring, and Frodo proceeds to sit around his hobbit hole for a few months eating a lot of breakfasts, and even once he truly gets going on his quest, he still spends way too much time chilling with Tom Bombadil? It's been like that. I need a challenge - something I can fail at to drive me to succeed. I need Black Riders running after me. Main Quest: Obese no more. This means losing about 100 pounds. Quest 1: Stop drinking sodas and sugary drinks by the end of this challenge. Currently I have about a 5 a week soda habit. I plan to taper off as follows: 4 sodas in week 13 sodas in week 22 sodas in week 31 soda in week 4last two weeks NO SODAS. Two whole weeks without a soda is better than I've done for about 3 months. Quest 2: Exercise 3 days a week - at least 15 minutes for high intensity (BBWW) and 30 minutes for moderate intensity (fast walking). I want to maintain success on this quest throughout the entire challenge - 3 days a week is not that hard. I should be able to do it. One major liability: I have surgery on Thursday, November 13. However, it is not the type of surgery that should stop a person from hopping on a treadmill. According to my doctor, there may be some pain the weekend following the surgery, but mainly I will be recovering from the effects of anesthesia for 2 days and I should be basically fine. Walking is highly recommended as soon as possible following surgery, and I should be able to get back to squatting and lunging within a week or two, depending on pain. At any rate, even if i'm just going for walks the week after surgery, I CAN exercise that week. No excuses short of completely unexpected results. Oh, and what's that other thing that might interfere with exercise during the next 6 weeks? Oh yeah, the holidays. Holiday shopping, particularly. No excuses though - 3 days a week. Quest 3: By the end of the challenge, track my meals every single day. For some reason, daily tracking strikes me as hard. But it's also what leads to the most success for me with weight loss. So I will work my way up as follows: Track 5 days in week 1Track 6 days in week 2Track 6 days in week 3Track 7 days weeks 4-6Life quest: Put $100 in savings. Savings is tough right now, and I'm working on a long term goal of having $1000 backup and then chipping away at debt after I have backup established. I am prepared for the holidays, thankfully - I've spent the year putting savings away each month specifically for holiday shopping. But $100 is still a major accomplishment during the holidays, because this is the time of year that I am most likely to eat out. Motivation: I want to keep adventuring for my whole life. Perhaps this is just the luck of genetics, but I have avoided pretty much all of the chronic diseases of obesity. I have only recently started having some issues with my blood pressure, but even that isn't yet at a point where I need medication. I can control my blood pressure with diet. I SHOULD control the blood pressure with diet. Additionally, my doctor pointed out to me that although I don't appear to be at risk for any chronic disease based on my current status, we all suffer joint degeneration as we age, and I will suffer far less if there is less weight on my joints. I like being an independent person. I like being able to go where I want and do what I like. I will better be able to keep doing that if I lose weight. Once the 6 weeks is up, I can make it up to Level 2! And that's awesome, because I LOVE leveling up. Seriously. I have done SO much blacksmithing in Skyrim just to level up. It's an addiction, albeit a great addiction for the purposes of this challenge. Here is what I plan for point allocation: Quest 1: Stop drinking sodas and sugary drinks: CON - 3 Quest 2: Exercise 3 days a week: STA - 2 STR - 2 Quest 3: track my meals every single day: WIS - 3 CHA - 2 Life Quest: Put $100 in savings: WIS - 3 I believe that's everything I need. Of course this is my first quest, so if there's anything I've left out, please let me know!

MAIN QUEST Lose 70lbs. Starting weight (Jan. 15th): 208.6lbs Current weight (Mar 20th): 195.5lbs Total Lost: 13.1lbs (18.7% of goal) I started the paleo/primal lifestyle on January 15th, @ 208.6lbs. I was 196.9lbs on February 15th. THREE GOALS Work out a minimum 3x/week, an hour each session. Consume 64oz of water each day. Do a yoga session at least 2x/week, for mental and emotional clarity.LIFE QUEST(S) Finish graduate school applications by March 1st 9th, and after March 1st 9th spend at least 4 hours a day studying for the MCAT.In the 6 weeks of the quest, put $1000 in my savings.​Total put away so far: $400 ($600 to go).MY MOTIVATION In the past year and a half I went through a horrible break up while suffering with low self-esteem. I ended up gaining a good 40lbs over the past year and a half, and watched myself grow from a size 12 to a size 19 [since summer!], and weigh over 200lbs. Then... I met a wonderful guy who introduced me to the paleo/primal lifestyle (he lost over 100lbs on it!) and fitness - we were very good friends over the past year, each helping each other out. Then we decided to date - and at 8mos together now, he has given me back my confidence and so, so much more. He recently dropped a 'bomb' and said he plans to propose in the summer. Along with his motivation, I am my own motivation to be the very best I can be, for us - physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. My lifestyle change has also been motivated by my goal to become an Osteopathic physician - I want to understand nutrition (applying for graduate programs in it now) so I can better help my patients live a healthy life. Unfortunately many doctors are spoon-fed the nutrition pyramid (don't get me started) and only ~30% of medical schools in the US push students to take separate courses in nutrition. Only 40 medical schools in the entire US required the minimum 25hrs in nutrition as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences!

So, after a very successful first challenge to start the year off I've had back-to-back challenges where I've started with the best of intentions and fallen off the wagon fast. Summertime is staring me down - I have a beach vacation the second week of July that I desperately want to feel better about myself for. So - let's try to get this fitness thing back on track! Fitness: * Hit the weight room and follow a workout plan for this 6-week challenge (and beyond into the next challenge). * Run regularly - I plan on running five days a week, and average 20-25 miles a week on the road. It's getting nice out, and I enjoy running outside much more than running inside. I just hate running in the cold . Diet: * Just want to follow a couple simple rules here: Be generous with the "bad" snacking - take more almonds, fruits, and veggies to snack on at work, avoid the easy chips and stuff. Also - no more eating after 8 p.m. and if it must be done, make it an apple or carrots. Allowing myself some wiggle room here because of possible movie nights with the wife (popcorn!). * Using MyFitnessPal, track what I eat. I was really good about this the first six-week challenge, but got bored with it. I need to use it to just see what I've got going into my body. * Drink at least 128 oz. of just water each day. Should be no problem, just need to stick to it. Life: * Continue throwing money into the savings account. Getting closer to my 2013 goal, just want to keep working towards it.

I have a savings account and keep 1 month of finances in it at all times. I also put money in it each month so I can pay my tuition each semester. However I have problems keeping more than that in it. Way too tempting. What are my options for other types of savings? I'm thinking more long term but not as long term as a 401k. Something without large withdrawl penalties but enough to make me think. I'm looking to put about half of my tax return in it and then not touching it unless something unfortunate happens. Suggestions?