Search the Community

I'm back! Last challenge my life took a turn for the crazy. My classes started getting really time consuming, I got more responsibilities piled on me at my job, I went on vacation, and my family life got a little hectic. All this resulted in me, for the first time since joining the rebellion 17 wonderful/crazy/difficult challenges ago, having to step away from the forums for a few weeks and settle back into my life. I missed you all terribly, there were so many times I’d be like “oh I can’t wait to tell the nerds!†and then I’d remember I had to use my time doing other things. NF has become such an engrained part of my life it was really hard for me to just take a beat and work things out on my own. But I did, I have finally gotten used to the new pace of my life which seems it is here to stay, and am feeling refreshed from both my vacation and my challenge hiatus. So I’m feeling super motivated to tackle this new challenge. This challenge will be focused around my weekends. I have noticed that a lot of times I am unsuccessful during the week because I am not taking advantage of my weekends adequately. So I’m going to make all of my goals weekend oriented. If I set myself up for success, it’ll be hard to fail. I am definitely guilty of wasting entire Saturdays away doing basically nothing because I am not planning it out. I plan my weekdays every week now it’s time to plan my weekends too for MAXIMUM SUCCESS! Main Mission One: Move Weird I will utilize the weekends to do some fun movement that I don’t have a chance to do during the week. This can be an intense mobility session, restorative yoga, a hike, a ruck, or anything else of that nature. Main Mission Two: Homework I will do all my homework every weekend no matter what. I will not leave it for the weekdays. This has been something that’s been holding me back on weekdays a lot. I have plenty of time on weekends to do it, I’ve just got to get it done. Main Mission Three: Laundry Self-explanatory. I’ll wash, dry and PUT AWAY (seriously Raxie, put your damn clothes away) at least one load of laundry every weekend. Food Mission: Batch Cooking Every weekend I will prep all of my meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner) for Monday-Friday of the upcoming week. I will post pictures here of my success each week for accountability and because nom. Life Mission: Nerd Fitness Because part of the reason I had to step away from the forums last challenge was due to not enough time, I will make sure to dedicate a chunk of time every weekend to catching up around here and commenting on all the threads I am following. And there it is. I’m gonna ranger my weekends for serial! Oh also, PS – I recently crossed something off my 2016 yearly goals. I paid off my credit card! Wohoooo! It’s crazy how it really wasn’t hard to do once I decided to do it. Making the minimum payment each month was so easy, but once I forced myself to buckle down, stop charging to it, and live a little more frugally to put more money towards, and also not spending my tax return on things but instead on my future by throwing a large chunk towards this as well… I was able to 100% pay off all 3 of my cards, not just my Discover card which was actually my goal of the year. Feeling really great about this.

Poison Ivy Because this fits me... Friends wedding will be happening this challenge, have to finish the centerpieces for this I will be taking Zumba teacher training this month as well...that will be next challenge I start having classes Going to try and reach 10,000 steps per day, at least 6,000 minimum Will be doing yoga 2 days a week at work Will be doing one lesson a day, at least one unit a week till I get my class finished Keep it clean will be the theme of my eating, since I can't outrun my fork and it will keep everything from getting derailed...that is just a given, not an official part of the challenge Work is going to be crazy this month, I am taking on the cleaning of the Medical Office Building in addition to what I'm already responsible for, have to get staff in place and trained by mid-month. Changes coming in the kitchen again, trying to get it back on track and fully staffed so it's not a chaotic. I don't want to have to choose between working out and doing homework so I'm cutting way back till schoolwork is done...I have two months to finish this! My youngest will be here for a week mid-month (yay!) for spring break...this is the same week of the instructor class and wedding...nothing like getting it all done at once... I also want to try and keep up with my friends better on here, because I miss you guys!!

In school? Studying for an exam? Super-huge thing coming up that you need to prepare for? Need support? Someone to hold you accountable? Then this is for you Trying to be healthy (work out, eat right, get enough sleep) juggle schoolwork, and work/family/social stress is tough...we can't promise to help you pass advanced accounting, but at least you're among others that understand what you're going through, and maybe pick up a few tips along the way

Already time for the next challenge, woo! February is going to be an interesting month for me. I am going to Wicked Faire with some friends, and that's the 19th to the 21st. I want to look my best for the faire! Also, I have to wait until the 19th (Match Day) to know for sure if I got an internship for the next year. It looks good, but nothing is guaranteed and the suspense is killing me. My basic plan is to try an keep as busy as possible until the 19th, making progress on my dissertation, lifting, biking, trying to lose this persistent and annoying bit of belly fat I've accumulated, working through the ACT workbook, and pursuing my hobbies. I don't have specific goals in mind just yet, but I've been doing a good job making and mostly completing comprehensive to do lists every day. I'll update with specific goals when I figure that out. I'll also hopefully be continuing the saga of Sovellis, though I still need to wrap up the last challenge. Does anyone know how the leveling works now? For once I actually feel like I deserve to level up and would like to take care of that.

Pre-Challenge Spiel So my previous challenge was meant to reset my body and my mind for the upcoming year. It did that to an extent. It forced to make more time for myself in my busy (and getting busier) schedule and also to really focus on what I am putting into my body. I have upped my water intake significantly and aside from slipping up on a business trip week, did not drink alcohol for the whole month of January. I feel pretty great and refreshed and am so ready to start hitting things hard again! But going hard is uh... hard. For those of you who haven't been following me, I had a hip pre-injury (not quite an injury but a pain that told me to stop what I was doing and figure it out or an injury would basically be guaranteed to happen) and got pretty freaked out about it. My sister has serious hip problems (she is 20 and has already had to have hip surgery) so I took this very seriously. I figured out my issues were a result of glute amnesia - my glutes were not doing the work they were supposed to during DL and squats, and allowing my hip flexors to do all the work. Hip flexors are tiny muscles, they are not supposed to be taking on so much stress! But my glutes just werne't firing. I essentially put a halt on my lifting program and spent the last 6-ish weeks (basically ever since the end of the challenge of 2015) doing connectivity drills I learned at Camp Nerd Fitness from the lovely Kate Galliett and also some other glute strengthening isolation drills I found online. I also began doing a lot of core exercises to help protect my lower back from the same fate. Apparently lower backs are over acheivers too. Plus, core strength = better everything so why not? Anyway, I'm now feeling pretty confident with my glute amnesia being banished (I notice them firing when I walk and go up steps and basically do anything, and I even had a dream about squats where I noticed my glutes activating properly so they've definitely finally decided they want to do some work) and it is time for me to return to Strong Lifts! I'm going to have to deload a bunch, but I am so pumped to get back at this. I am also taking 2 classes as well as working full time. Typically I take one class but this semester I decided to really lean forward on my degree. Wow was it a lot more to take on than I expected. Basically, between beginning SL again, wanting to maintain my occasional glute activation drills an dother mobility drills, continuing to make sure my core gets some love, keeping up with my classes, my job exploding more and more and wanting to keep up with you nerds as much as possible because you are THE BEST I need to seriously work on my time allocation. Unfortunately I do not have a time turner to get more hours from my day. I know what I need to do, and what I want to do. I have the motivation and the habits. What I need to do now is take both of those and be flexible with my schedule in order to get in everything I want. So this challenge won't have very complicated goals from the outset, but each week will be treated individually depending on what I've got going on, work travel, homework, etc. I'm going to continue with the Fly Lady baby steps as well and hopefully finish out all 31 by the end of this challenge but if I get held up on a specific day again that's fine. I want to integrate this into my life slowly so it sticks. I'm currently on day 15 - and have been for about a week now. Main Goals 1. Every Sunday or Monday I will post my schedule for the week to include major items that may affect my productivity on a given day for the next seven days (ie - class) and what I will be doing for each of those days BROKEN DOWN BY THE HOUR. This sounds crazy, I know, but I only have a few hours between when I get home from work (6PM) and when I need to get to bed (9/930PM) so I truly need to plan out how to utilize each of those minutes to get the most done I can without trying to do too much and blowing my bed time. Non-work days are a bit more flexible but I still want to list what I want to do on those days. This includes homework, cleaning tasks, meditation, reading, and of course work outs. 2. At least 3 times a week I will update my thread on my status of if I hit my to-do goals for each day. 3. Each week I need to fit in a core work out and a glute drill workout. This can be the same workout. (I won't do this if I don't make it a separate goal). Food Goal 4. Continue to not eat dairy. 1 minor slip up a week is allowed (ie some melted cheese on some meat. Eating 1017 cheese cubes from an appetizer tray does not count as a "minor" slip up). Life Goal 5. Sleep at least 7 hours a night. No on average, but actually legit, 7 hours a night. This will prevent me from expecting too much of myself in (1) and (2) above. My final grade will be based 20% on the success of each of the above. Planning, execution, special work outs, dairy consumption, and sleep. Goal 2 (posting updates) will be half based on posting 3x/week and half based on actual completion of my schedule items. I'm aware this is going to be quite the strict challenge with no bells and whistles but I needs it. Bad. SELF DICIPLINE FTW! Also, I've made the commitment to watch through Xena. Girl power also FTW! I debated making this challenge Xena themed but I didn't have time. I'd rather spend my time making my rounds here than thinking up a way to make this challenge more themed....but feel free to post Xena gifs as they will bring me joy

In school? Studying for an exam? Super-huge thing coming up that you need to prepare for? Need support? Someone to hold you accountable? Then this is for you Trying to be healthy (work out, eat right, get enough sleep) juggle schoolwork, and work/family/social stress is tough...we can't promise to help you pass advanced accounting, but at least you're among others that understand what you're going through, and maybe pick up a few tips along the way

The holiday season had been fun, and true to form, Sovellis had thrown himself into the festivities. Now, sitting by the fire in the inn's common room, he tried to recover from the consequences of his actions. Despite having slept until the afternoon, he still only got about 5 hours of sleep and so felt drained. He sipped his mug of hot coffee. Little light filtered in through the windows from the dreary, cold, winter day. Perhaps he should just go back to bed. The front door opened, allowing a chill breeze to swirl amongst the tables. The man who entered was wrapped in a cloak, but the armor he wore was visible beneath. It was recognizably Badroni style, a sash indicating he was an official agent of the kingdom. Being so far from the kingdom where he had pledged his fealty so long ago, this was the last thing Sovellis was expecting. Scanning the room, the newcomer's eyes stopped when they reached the elf and he stepped right up, giving a little nod. "SuleSuthrie Niallo, yes?" "I am." "Hetman RefSuthrie commands your immediate return to Sejabird Hill," the messenger stated simply, handing a letter bearing the Hetman's offical seal to Sovellis. Sovellis nodded, taking the letter. "You can tell him I have recieved his summons and will return as soon as I can." The messenger, seemingly satisfied, offered one last short nod, turned, and walked back out into the wintery evening. Letting out a long breath, Sov leaned back in his seat and opened the letter. The contents revealed little more than what the messenger had said, but the very brevity of the note was interesting. Could the Hetman be concerned about the message being intercepted? What had been going on since he had left the kingdom of Badronis? He shut his eyes and sighed. He was far too tired to head out immediately. That would have to wait until tomorrow. "Time to step up and fulfill your duties, Sov," he mumbled to himself. <------<<< Alright, time for another challenge. Definitely over indulged over the break, which is no surprise. I really want to buckle down and start living my life the way I want to live it this challenge. This means not making excuses to not work out or to put off working on my school stuff. I will be combating my fears and anxiety head on, utilizing an ACT therapy workbook. I don't know exactly how I'll be tracking things this challenge, but a daily post updating about everything I did is required. Also, daily update of the bank. Goal 1: 1 hour minimum of school work a day Goal 2: Bike/lift on alternate days Goal 3: ACT workbook Goal 4: Adulting This is a bit rough still, and I plan to tweak things as I go. I just really wanted to get something posted today, no excuses, right? Time for me to grow up and do the things I need to do. Period. This is the path I chose, and whining about the rock in my shoe doesn't get me any closer to my destination. Rawr! As for today's update, my sleep schedule is so completely messed up that I'm doing a hard reset. This means I am not sleeping until tomorrow night. It'll suck, but I'm not going to let myself use this as an excuse. I've already done my duolingo, pulled feeders for the snakes, and tried changing my bike tire so I could finally put it on the trainer. Unfortunately, I ended up tearing the tire. Grumble. I'll take it to a shop and have them do it. That means I can't bike, so I'll lift tonight instead. I'll also work in the ACT book and do some interview prep (interview is on Friday). I will also pull runes, and if my brain allows it I will read a while as well.

I have been at Nerd Fitness for one year. What?? One whole year in the Rebellion, most of that among my beloved Rangers... and yet I still have not really found a system that works. I still feel like a n00b. A hatchling, you could say. As a hatchling, I have to learn how to live - how to move, how to eat, how to survive. It seemed kinda fitting to the place I'm at in my fitness journey. I won't say I lack success - I've had many successes over the past year - but I lack consistency, and I lack progress. I've been able to maintain my weight and keep some small modicum of physical activity in my weeks, but really, I'm stuck. I have not made the progress I imagined I would make. So, it's time to hatch out of my shell, put in some real work and learn how to live! 30+ minutes of physical activity every day. With the help of my new shiny FitBit, this shouldn't be hard to track. It can be 30 minutes of anything - yoga, walking, running, bodyweight circuits, whatever I feel like or have time for. I've found that an easy way to do this is to hop on the elliptical after dinner, so I really don't have any excuse at all for being more active. IN ADDITION, starting January 9th, I'm finally beginning the parkour class that I've had my eye on for forever, and I AM STOKED! So that is at least two days out of every week that I will be guaranteed a workout - the actual class and one other day of attending open gym. Stick to macros. I'm trying to get my diet in line, and my first step is to make sure I'm not eating a whole week's worth of calories every day! Haha. While I do want to go back to the paleo diet eventually, since I saw huge success with it before, it does get expensive and I can't do it all the time. So right now my focus is plain-old calorie counting, as boring as that is. Gotta start somewhere, right? Read my Bible daily. I am so forgetful about my Bible reading, and I really want to make it a habit but it always seems to slip my mind. So once more, I am including it in my challenge goals, in the hopes that it will at least keep me coming back to it. Do my homework as soon as it's assigned. I just completed my fall semester at college, and boy, was it a rough one. My courses were the hardest yet, and sometimes I was struggling to stay caught up. My main problem was my procrastination - I waited until way too late to start, and then couldn't always figure out what was going on. I still finished with all A's and B's, so it could have been worse; but I am extremely lucky I didn't suffer more for it. This semester is going to be even harder than the last, and so it is critical that I stay on top of my studies right out of the gate. School starts January 11th. tl;dr ~ 30+ minutes of activity daily ~ Stick to macros ~ Read Bible daily ~ Do homework as soon as it's assigned ETA: Mini-Challenge Feats

In school? Studying for an exam? Super-huge thing coming up that you need to prepare for? Need support? Someone to hold you accountable? Then this is for you Trying to be healthy (work out, eat right, get enough sleep) juggle schoolwork, and work/family/social stress is tough...we can't promise to help you pass advanced accounting, but at least you're among others that understand what you're going through, and maybe pick up a few tips along the way

Sovellis cast his eyes around at the destruction surrounding him. The murky, disease ridden flood waters had begun to recede, revealing the true cost of the disaster. Amid the battered and broken buildings, bodies emerged. Young, old, mothers, fathers, children, their skin darkened and mottled from injury and rot. The stench was overwhelming. Somewhere in the distance a fire raged, sending thick clouds of acrid smoke wafting through the remains of the town. He looked around in horror. This was his fault. He didn't know how he knew this, but he knew it to be true. It was him. Him and the shit choices he made. All had led to this loss. He couldn't breathe. His lungs burned. He began to panic. There was no fixing this, and it was all his fault... He fell unelegantly out of bed, waking in time to see the floor rapidly approaching his face. Instead of his usual slew of obscenities, he frantically scrambled to his feet, kicking a couple empty bottles across the floor, searching the darkness for the destruction that had surrounded him just moments before. In its place, all he saw was the familiar confines of his usual room at the inn. Shaking his head angrily, he tried to catch his breath. His bed clothes were soaked through and clammy with sweat and it looked like someone had tried to tie the blankets into a pretzel. "Just a dream. Another goddamn dream," he breathed to himself quietly. Prone to unpleasant dreams for as long as he could remember, their frequency and vividness had taken a decidedly ambitious step up in intensity as of late. He used to be able to block them out by drinking, but now they were breaking through even the deepest stupors. Just as he was starting to orient himself to reality again, there was a knock at the door. Grumbling, he stumbled through the dark to answer the summons. Opening the door unsurprisingly revealed the innkeeper, who looked as unhappy to be making this call as he was to receive it. "My lord, you know how I appreciate the aid you've offered this town, but there have been three complaints tonight alone of shouting coming from this room. I owe you as much gratitude as any, but I am running a business here, and people are starting to check out early. You understand," she explained as politely as she could, seeing the state he was in. Sovellis nodded tiredly and wiped his hand over his face. "I understand. I can head out tomorrow. Thank you for being so patient with me. Sorry for being such a problem." "Oh no problem at all, sir, and thank you for understanding." She turned to leave, then paused. "If you don't mind me saying so, my lord, I would ask you to take care of yourself and dispel whatever evil it is that haunts you so. You deserve to be happy, or at least content." She looked nervous, but breathed a sigh of relief when he offered her a nod and a smile of appreciation. Shutting the door he turned back to the mess of his bed. He needed rest but feared what awaited him in the realm of dreams. Each of his nightmares seemed to center around his fears of the slowly aggregating consequences of his innumerable and consistently poor choices. Just like so many times before, he knew something needed to change. Reluctantly he climbed back into the unpleasantly damp bed to try and sleep. "Ugh, I wish you were here, Ishu. You wouldn't stand for me making foolish choices, you never did. Why didn't I listen to you back then?" Closing his eyes, he clutched the pillow tightly, an anchor to the reality where it wasn't too late, where he could still change his fate by making better choices. Or at least that's what he hoped. <------<<< So I decided to join the druids this time around. Ultimately, I would like to stay a ranger, because I love running and weight lifting and doing warrior dash and all that stuff. The reality is that I need to take care of some seriously more fundamental health and self care issues first. I am in the final stages of earning my doctorate in clinical psychology, which means applying for internship and working on my dissertation. This is intensely stressful and I have not been coping well. I need to find a better balance, learn to be okay being alone, and figure out how to consistently make good choices about self care. Specifically, I am going to focus on reducing my alcohol intake. Again. I tried this last challenge, but I think the structure I tried didn't work well for me, so I'm going to try something a little different this time. Goal 1: Do one academic thing each day. Goal 2: Do one fitness thing each day (lifting, yoga, running, archery, even taking a long walk, anything really other than sitting on the couch will count for this). Goal 3: Do one healthy self care thing each day (shower, read, meditate, play a game, going to be exploring options for this to see what works for me). Goal 4: Alcohol reduction. Each day where I do not drink at all, I get to bank 2 drinks for later, which I can cash in at any time. This means that after one dry day, I have 2 drinks available. After 2 days it would be 4, and so on. I cannot earn any drinks without having at least one dry day. If I manage to stick to this, it will significantly reduce my weekly consumption. I think it stands a better chance of working because it is a reward system that leaves the power of choice in my hands, so I don't feel like I'm being deprived or punished.

In school? Studying for an exam? Super-huge thing coming up that you need to prepare for? Need support? Someone to hold you accountable? Then this is for you Trying to be healthy (work out, eat right, get enough sleep) juggle schoolwork, and work/family/social stress is tough...we can't promise to help you pass advanced accounting, but at least you're among others that understand what you're going through, and maybe pick up a few tips along the way

Oh wait a minute....not THAT kind of Cat.... That's better I really need a whip like that...my birthday is very soon *hint... I should probably put a R rating and NSFW disclaimer on my challenge threads at some point... So my last several challenges I have determined what is working for me, what is not, and noticed some things I need to work on...this has brought me to the conclusion I need to become a Cat(woman) C.atatonic - Cats are probably the most well rested animal out there, where as I, am not...according to my fitness tracker on a good night I may get 4 out of 6 hours of 'restful' sleep. For now I am going to focus on sleeping 7 hours, then we'll work on the quality...then increasing the quantity. A.gility - Cats are agile, I need to do yoga at least 2 times a week to improve agility and flexibility. Really no excuse on this one since we do it at work 2 days a week as well as off skates training to help with my agility on the track. T.raining - Okay cats don't need this but the theme is working for me...in addition to derby training I need to do kettlebell, and I'm doing four 5K's during this challenge, actually one is 8K (which does not count the 5K this Saturday!) W.oman - you need to finish school...course work is a priority this challenge on nights I don't have practice, turn in one lesson every two weeks. Breakdown is like this: Catatonic - 30 points Agility - 12 points yoga, 18 points off skates training Training - 12 points 5k's, kettlebells Scoring 2 points each DEX, STR, CON Derby practice is its own scoring, 18 practices and points. Scoring 2 points each STA, CHA Course work possible 24 points, for 2 WIS. and I have a pretty spreadsheet to help me keep track of it all....

Hi everyone and sorry for the long inactivity. Why was I gone? So for those of you who don't know... In the past (also explained in the challenges) I have seriously been struggling with myself. I simply don't feel happy, I went to a psychologist and she found I have more than just a depression, which sounded very eerie, but ends up there's something to do about it. But I felt like I was in a very deep pit that I couldn't climb out of. Then I got a badly bruised rib, I felt even more horrible... Then I went on holiday and whatnot. Basically, things were horrible and busy at the same time, which is why I couldn't find the energy or time to do a challenge. But here I am, back in business, hoping I can do something again here. Why am I here? Honestly... I feel I kind of >have to< be here, like I will let people down if I'm not..? But of course I am also here for myself. I want to make a change to my life style, as I have tried many times before, but simply failed, or did a half assed job. Even in the challenges here. I started to notice I have to make my challenges smaller, take baby steps, because when I want too much I lose my energy and motivation, I get stressed, I start binge eating and feeling friggin' horrible about it afterwards, I feel like I can't do anything... Basically I get this mental shit storm that seems to go on and on forever. BUT I want to prove to myself that if I take baby steps I don't have to go through that horribleness again. I want to allow myself to make mistakes. I want to be nicer to myself, comfort myself, say that it's okay and that it's going to be alright... That my feelings are legit, but that I am strong enough to crawl back to feeling better. But I can't do that alone... Which is the real reason why I'm here. I'm here for you guys, because I need you. I'm going to be very open about this: I have felt suicidal for a longer time... Never acted upon it, though. And finally these horrible thoughts cross my mind less and less, which is great, but I do have my fallbacks at times, where I just don't know what to do. Where I don't have energy, not even to do grocery shopping or clean my house, or wash my hair... It's real bad. Previously I've not been so open about this, but I realise I have to be, so people understand my situation slightly better. And I hope that, when I am in such a horrible place in my mind, I will be brave enough to post it here and ask for support. What will I do? Here we come to the part where I explain my challenge. Basically I want to lose weight, but I can't seem to get it done. I don't have the mental strength to stay away from biscuits and chocolate. So instead of trying to deny myself these things, I want to have a look at getting some healthy habits while still allowing myself to have biscuits and whatnot whenever I'm in a binge eating mood. I know right now I can't stop myself from doing such things, so I'm going to have to accept that it happens instead of beating myself up about it. But I can compensate a little bit with healthy habits, right? Habit #1 - Fruit for breakfast Well, it says it all. Previously I would either have sandwiches for breakfast and sometimes even biscuits, because it was the first thing lying around (from previous evening) and I'd think "Oh you know, I'll just finish that so it's out of the house" and next thing you know I'm already in the shop buying new biscuits... So it was never really out of the house. But if I stick to having fruit for breakfast as a rule, that should go better... Right? At least, I hope so. It may take away a little bit. And yes, I know fruits have sugar in them too, but I'm pretty sure eating fruit is less bad than eating chocolate covered oreo's for breakfast. Habit #2 - Squats Now there's a little story to this. On 9GAG (yes, that's right) I came across a wonderful inspirational picture. In the first place I thought "Haha, too long, not gonna read", but I guess I was too curious to actually let it go. And so I read the text on the picture. First reaction: But even though the text in this picture is directed towards men, it still did inspire me and so I commented on it. The OP was very nice to me and told me that he had lost 13 kg in 3 months through "intermittent fasting". I Googled it and found out that's nothing for me. xD And I was honest about that to him. But he also said I should do squats, that it helps and that it's good for your butt. Well, I already knew that, but there was something in the way he said it that I immediately did 20 squats. And later that night 25 more. And this morning another 25 squats. Man, I got inspired! So I want to do 25 squats every morning and every evening. It's not much, but it's something. It's better than doing nothing. 25 squats gives a bit of a burning sensation in my legs, but I don't get a muscle ache from it and I can easily take the time to do 25 squats. Habit #3 - Water Now, I've had water goals before, where I told myself I should drink at least 2L of water a day, or 1.5L or something. But I find it hard to keep track of that. I think I drink enough, but just in case I want to change this goal to something that's easier to keep track of, something smaller too. Every morning, before breakfast, I have to drink a glass of water. It's said to start up your system, to burn stuff, so who knows. It's worth a try, right? How do I measure my goals? Like in previous challenges I will make daily lists of goals I have to achieve. They will look like this: Week X - Day X - [day name] Glass of water - win/fail Fruit for breakfast - win/fail Morning squats - win/fail Evening squats - win/fail 3 wins per day means I've won that whole day. 4 wins per day means I get star status for that day. 5 star statuses in a week means I get to post a picture of a star for that week, to show off my awesomeness. Week 1 (win count = 5, star count = 3) Day 1 win * - Day 2 fail - Day 3 win * - Day 4 win * - Day 5 win - Day 6 win - Day 7 fail Week 2 (win count = 3, star count = 1) Day 8 win - Day 9 win * - Day 10 fail - Day 11 fail - Day 12 win - Day 13 fail - Day 14 fail Even with this challenge it's clear that this was a bad week for me... I struggled a lot this week, mentally. Week 3 Day 15 win - Day 16 win/fail - Day 17 win/fail - Day 18 win/fail - Day 19 win/fail - Day 20 win/fail - Day 21 win/fail Week 4 Day 22 win/fail - Day 23 win/fail - Day 24 win/fail - Day 25 win/fail - Day 26 win/fail - Day 27 win/fail - Day 28 win/fail Week 5 Day 29 win/fail - Day 30 win/fail - Day 31 win/fail - Day 32 win/fail - Day 33 win/fail - Day 34 win/fail - Day 35 win/fail Week 6 Day 36 win/fail - Day 37 win/fail - Day 38 win/fail - Day 39 win/fail - Day 40 win/fail - Day 41 win/fail - Day 42 win/fail

Okay, so a friend of mine posted something rather profound on Facebook the other day... "You don't have to change your attitude in order to change your actions. You change your actions and your attitude will slowly change." To which someone commented they had heard it phrased as "Act as if until you become." Which breaks down to "Fake It Till You Make It..." I do not have to love getting out of bed to work out...I just have to DO it! Making excuses is not going to get me to my goal, working at it, even when I don't really want to at that time, is going to get me to my goal. So, goals this round: 1. Lose weight - I want to lose 20 lbs by my birthday (which is the Saturday after the challenge ends) 8 weeks away...I did say want, but we're going to give it a shot... I already eat >95% Paleo...for the next 8 weeks there will be no cheats, I have a bad habit of taking a mile when given an inch. I've started doing yoga when I get home, not sure why it took me so long to start doing this but it needs to continue... I feel better when I get up and work out, I've found a kettlebell routine that needs to happen 3 days a week (no idea why this took so long either...), cardio (elliptical till the chiropractor says otherwise) the other 3, will rest on one day, probably Sunday but we will see...I have 2 or 3 5k's coming up as well. Need to do better at getting enough water, I drink plenty of coffee and green tea, but I notice a difference if I don't drink water2. Work on course - Homework, each lesson has about 6-8 assignments, need to do one a night every night. 3. I need to continue leaving work on time so I have opportunity to do this without stressing myself out more than I am... That's it, going to keep it fairly simple until school is done...the usual inappropriate comments and blatant flirting will still be here, of course... Leaving you with this thought because it's a good thing to keep in mind

In school? Studying for an exam? Super-huge thing coming up that you need to prepare for? Need support? Someone to hold you accountable? Then this is for you Trying to be healthy (work out, eat right, get enough sleep) juggle schoolwork, and work/family/social stress is tough...we can't promise to help you pass advanced accounting, but at least you're among others that understand what you're going through, and maybe pick up a few tips along the way

In school? Studying for an exam? Super-huge thing coming up that you need to prepare for? Need support? Someone to hold you accountable? Then this is for you Yes, we know this challenge is almost over, but school has just started back for many...so come join us, we can't promise to help you pass advanced accounting, but at least you're among others that understand what you're going through!

Sovellis woke with a splitting headache. He felt woozy and disoriented. Looking around, he saw he was back in Noor's stone shack. How had he gotten there? Wasn't he just at the ruins of that tower? Despite feeling awful, at least he could feel that the fae beast's hold on him had been broken. Noor calmly chopped vegetables, layering them over chunks of rabbit meat to start a stew. She ached all over and her mind felt crisped, but it was over for now. The tower was free of beasts and she could finish her research and collapse it's haunted hall. Sovellis was freed for now. "What the hell happened...?" he croaked, his voice hoarse from disuse. How long had he been out? "You were almost taken by a faebeast in that blasted tower. Do you remember anything? Did you accidentally talk to it?" Noor crossed to him and handed him one ofher heavy mugs filled with strong smelling tea Taking the mug, he tried to remember. "Ishu, I talked to Ishu." He shook his head. "But that makes no sense, Ishu couldn't be there. I had to get out, but I couldn't." His memories were a confusing mess, and didn't seem to flit together cohesively. "AH. it stole an image from your mind and tricked you into speaking to it. There was too much magic in that place to be safe." She shuddered, glad that the creature was gone. He stared down into the steaming mug, slumping. "I'm sorry, I should have been stronger. I'm not being any help at all. Just putting both of us in greater danger." She placed one large gnarled hand on his shoulder. "Stop. You know how dangerous fae can be. That's why I waited fro there to be two of us to go back. Had it been just me, it could have taken me I would still be there in its clutches. He looked up at his old friend with a sad smile. "Thanks for saving my life. Again. Heh, my family should have paid you double." She laughed long and hard remembering. "Your family pays plenty well. You should send them a letter after this. Speaking with Ishu for real might do you well." Nodding and fiddling with his signet ring, he sniffed the tea, then took a cautious sip. It was surprisingly good, if rather pungent and strong. "Were you able to find out anything helpful at least?" "Well, I came close to sorting through all the magics and traced the curse to the fae's room. Now that its gone and made a bond to not return, I can go back and finish my work. One thing I do know is that this curse can not be dispelled and has to be survived or bested." "A curse that can't be dispelled? I didn't know such a thing could be done. Damned fae. Sounds like you are doing a pretty good job besting it so far!" He still felt a little ashamed for being tricked and captured by the fae, but he tried instead to focus on his friend's success. "So, back to the tower again?" "Yes, soon. First though we need to make you well again. You didn't eat properly for several days, or meditate." That explained why he felt so horrible. "I'll be fine, I should just need a day or so. I don't want to slow you down." "And I could use a day to research and rest before heading back to work. We shall have stew and relax tonight, spend tomorrow regrouping. Then we can see how well you have recovered and if the fae keeps its word." At the mention of stew, his stomach growled. Nodding, his smile grew as a spark of hope returned to him. "Good plan, especially the stew part!" "I had good hunting today. A brace of rabbits, a small deer. Hunting w iht a cat is so difernt than with a dog." SHe beamed at the large sleeping cat napping inthe sunlight "Heheh, I bet, a predator that large that can also sneak up on things? Terrifying!" He stretched his stiff limbs, trying to feel closer to normal. This quest had not been kind to him so far, but he had to find a way to move forward. <-------<<< Woo! Another challenge! Last one did not go so well for me. My poor elf succumbed to the pressures he faced, but luckily he had his friend Noor there to defeat the fae beast and drag him to safety. This challenge I am back with the rangers, and will look very different for me, because school stuff is ramping up again. I am going to focus on balance. In therapy I realized there were 5 basic areas that I need to succeed in to be a happy, healthy person. Academia, spirituality, physical fitness, chores (basic adulting), and reducing my drinking. I have shown many times over that I can rock any one of these at a time. The problem is that I need to make them all work at the same time. For this challenge, I must do something productive in each category to be counted successful. Four of five categories accomplished is a successful day. This feels uncomfortable for me, because it will place less emphasis on several things I've been doing awesome at and more emphasis on things I've been avoiding. I am also trying to practice greater patience and empathy for myself, but most of the time I still want to kick myself in the face. We will see how this goes, hopefully it works better than the last challenge! Woooo! *dives in* Also, I am starting my challenge tomorrow and counting two days past the official end of the challenge because I mixed up what day of the week it was. Oops.

Boss Battle: Tequatl the Sunless It's time for Achaedia to pack up and leave the oasis and continue on her journey. Resigned, she makes her way up the hill and over the first rise, when there, in the valley below, blocking her path, there it is: The fearsome Tequatl, minion of the undead dragon Zhaitan! Tequatl has hardened scales that can create a massive defense if someone doesn't work hard to keep them down. Achaedia takes her place at one of the turrets, hoping that she can blast them enough times to wear through their defenses and allow the fighters close to the dragon to take him down... The Battle: Weekly Benchmarks & Bonuses: Week One: 500 Points (+1 STR) Bonus: Cleaned Every Day (+1 CHA) Week Two: 500 Points (+1 STA) Bonus: Classroom Prepared (+1 WIS) Week Three: 400 Points (+1 STA) Bonus: Lesson Plans Prepared (+1 WIS) Week Four: 400 Points (+2 STR) Bonus: Worked Out Three Times (+1 STR) Week Five: 300 Points (+2 DEX) Bonus: Ate Breakfast Every Weekday (+1 CHA) Week Six: 300 Points (+2 STA) Bonus: Attended 3 Gymnastics Classes (+1 DEX) Standing Bonus (From My First Challenge): 1 unassisted chin-up or muscle-up = +5 STR Max Stat Totals: +4 STR, +3 DEX, +4 STA, +0 CON, +2 WIS, +2 CHA

I've always had a thing for mirrors, just not in the way most people think...While I cannot stand to look in one, mirror images of something are like my personal quirk...most people pay attention to the repetition like 12/12/12 in dates...I look for the mirror like 5/1/15 (yes, that is why I chose that day to get married ) This is my 11th challenge - my 'mirror' challenge (okay, I know, but for the purpose of this it is!) I have a short term goal to lose 20 lbs by my birthday, which is 10/31 (explain much? LOL) while I know it shouldn't matter, it will help me make peace with what I see when I look in the mirror...will also help me not have to buy new clothes because these are getting snug. The only real issue I have with food (besides that I love it) is my occasional cheats (aka ice cream) occasionally become too frequent! These need to be limited to no more than once a week if that. Otherwise we're very good about staying Paleo. I've started getting up and working on the elliptical again, which is cleared by my chiropractor...I really want to start incorporating kettlebells in there too a couple times a week...nothing outrageous to start, just the basics. I need to continue to work on the work-life balance...I can easily stay at work till 7pm, that's not healthy, especially considering I have an hour drive (one way) I've been doing fairly well at leaving at 5:30, earlier on days I have to see the chiropractor...the world has not come to an end and nothing imploded...I need to continue this...also need to continue to work on my course so I can finish by the end of the year, at least 30 minutes three days a week. So, goals this go round are 1. limit cheats, no more than once a week 2. continue working out at least 3 times a week, work on incorporating kettlebells 3. continue to leave work on time and work on course this is working towards my longer-short term goal of losing 20 lbs, without losing my mind in the process (assuming I had one to lose) Track in MFP to get a idea of how much protein and carbs I am consuming, as well as calories

Hi everyone! I'm a 171cm, 91kg (sorry for metric!) 17 y.o female who wants to lose around 20 kg by November as I have my senior formal... and my uni entrance exams -yikes! There's a gym around 10 minutes from my house that has treadmills, stationary bikes and ellipticals, a lat pull and guess I plan to go everyday after school. Hate to bring excuses but despite my fairly tight study schedule, I probably won't be able to work out for too long. Does anybody know how long I'll have to exercise to achieve this goal? I eat around 1500-1700 cal daily. Any advice is greatly appreciated! tyty

My Fourth Challenge: 1) Continue Tracking for a whole year on MFP, making sure to get proper nutrition, eating enough and figuring out what is best for me as I may be more insulin/carb sensitive than previously thought. Also, continue tracking exercise with Fitbit. 2) Lose that last 16 pounds by this summer, with 6 pounds for this challenge. 3) Continue keeping up with friends 4) Pass Garde Manger (Cold Foods) and graduate to Bakeshop 5) Put together new cosplay outfit. 6) Take care of ears, which tend to get clogged from time to time, eyes, which need to be examined, and right knee, which is still healing but is better than before. Progress so far: 1) Ongoing, still working on feelings of guilt for not being as athletic as some people on here. 2) Ongoing 3) Ongoing 4) Slightly behind. 5) I've got an absolutely perfect athletic jacket for my first female cosplay that isn't a female version of a male character, Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi, Acting Kumicho and High School Teacher from The Gokusen! I just need to get the pants, lose a bit of weight and fix up my hair.

The past month has left me quite anxious for what occured yesterday, January 31st. I took my boards for massage therapy and passed with 105 points to spare. After nearly crying and a dizzy spell I accepted that I wasn't dreaming and spent the rest of the day on cloud 9!

Hello Adventurers! I'm posting this topic early because I was late the last two challenges. Alright, here we go! 1) Get down to a healthy weight and finish school by summer. I'm hoping for 130 lbs. by June 1st. and I'm keeping track through MyFitnessPal. A friend of mine and I are both trying to lose weight together and I've lost a pound already, though it could have just been water weight. As for school, I want to complete the culinary program this year and decide whether I want to continue into the baking and pastry class. 2) Keep up with exercise. At least 30 minutes of DDR and a few minutes of weight lifting five days a week. I want to be strong for my dream job. I also want to get a really good pedometer or activity monitor and make sure I'm doing well. Maybe I'll walk to Mordor 3) Keep in touch with friends. I tend to lose track of time and friends when they and I get busy. I'm also not that social by nature. I do care about my friends, though, and want to keep them and keep in touch with them. 4) Try a challenge. I'm going to look at the Adventurer challenges and take one to try. Wish me good luck in starting the year off right!

Apfelstrudi apprenticizes with the Starks Quick TL;DR: Main goal: Study with Tony Sub-Goal 1: The path to MIT (Ace all my exams (Grades allowed: 1/A and in emergencies 2/B)) Sub-Goal 2: Take care of Tony's law suits (Study for English exam (6 units in 6 weeks)) Bonus Goal: Join Tony's research and invention team (Write down 5 ideas about something every day) Side Goal 1:Own your body with Arya Sub-Goal 1: Dine with the Hound (Breakfast and tea, every day.) Sub-Goal 2: Water dancing with Syrio Forel (Funcercise) Sub-Goal 3: Deep, calm breaths (Continue easing off of smoking) Side Goal 2: Off to King's Landing with Sansa Sub-Goal 1: Embrace the traditions (Keep up with the skin care) Sub-Goal 2: Make demands (Assemble (and share) skin-care wish list) Sub-Goal 3: Quality time with Shae (regular salon visits) Here's my story: After mixing up with pokémon and Hogwarts witches and wizards, a recent break-up has left me trying to hold it together, and failing utterly. My last challenge has been relatively successful - in fact, I only really sucked a bit at the fitness goal, but I'm still having a super hard time commenting and supporting others. It feels to me like nothing makes sense, and as I have to be super friendly at work all day, I'm exhausted and not in a good mood by the time I'm home. And if I can't support other people, then I feel bad for posting on my own thread - thus it all fails. Here goes another try. This time, since my dual education has to be a raging success this time around, I need to focus on just that - and still feel good about myself, my body and all that jazz as well. So one teacher/role model isn't gonna cut it this time. I need a whole (extended) family - the Starks! Long version of my goals: Main goal: Study with Tony Sub-Goal 1: Path to MIT I'm the nerd in my class. Seriously, all the girls come to me for help. It's mildly annoying but also proves I've been working my butt off. I need to continue with that. I have the habit of starting out super strong and then getting lazy. This can't happen. I'll have a big, big exam in almost exactly 11 months - this exam will decide how long I have to do this apprenticeship. If I get a good grade, I can shorten it by half a year, or perhaps even a whole year, which I'd absolutely love to do. This semester is really short. We've already had one exam (I'll know the grade after fall holidays) and there are 8 more to go. Here's the schedule so far: Nov 20: People & Companies (seriously that's what it's called) Nov 24: Politics Dec 1: Payments Dec 4: Economy Dec 11: Typing & Editing And there's also criminal law, excel and German exams coming up. All of this between the start of this challenge and christmas. Ideally I want to be the best in class for every single one of those exams. I'll settle for having a 1 (German equivalent of A) in every exam. And if all goes wrong, I'll be kinda okay-ish with a 2 (German equivalent for . If it gets any worse than that you may as well just shoot me. This may sound harsh, but seriously we just started this, we've got 1 lesson per class per week, there's not much that we can even have the exam about and it should be fairly easy, I can't get a bad grade and miss this opportunity. Sub-Goal 2: Take care of Tony's law suits There's an English exam specifically for apprentices. You cannot take this exam after or before an apprenticeship, it must happen during it. There are a ton of different ones, for different jobs and stages. I'm currently preparing for Legal English Stage 2 (out of 3 stages). I'll take the exam end of Jan/start of Feb and I've got a book called Legal Matter for preparation. It has 10 units and I want to work through 1 unit per week. It should be easily doable as I reckon I could get a pretty good grade even without preparation, as stage 2 isn't exactly hard. But I want to ace this as well, so preparation can't hurt! Bonus Goal: Join Tony's research and invention team I read this thing about how it'd be super useful to write down 5 ideas regarding one topic/matter/whatever every day. So that's what I'm gonna do, only I'll tone it down to 5 instead of twenty. I'll get a notebook and fill it with 5 ideas every day = 35 every week = 245 during the challenge. I'll at least try This is a bonus goal that I'd love to do, but won't force myself or feel bad about it should it fail. Also making a spreadsheet for topics to have ideas about, as 42 topics seem just a little much right now! So if there's a topic you want me to think about, please put it riiiiiiight here! Side Goal 1: Own your body with Arya Sub-Goal 1: Dine with the Hound Two habits I'm already getting into. I drink tea at work every day, and I also eat breakfast. Now, I've never been a breakfaster, so this makes me ultra happy. I gotta stick with it! Sub-Goal 2: Water dancing with Syrio Forel Can be done with the hoop or other things. I just need to find joy in movement again because I'm currently lacking both. There's no set parameters for this, as I want it to be fun and not because I need to do a certain number of sets. Side Goal 3: Deep, calm breaths I recently tried to stop smoking. My blood pressure didn't like it and I very nearly fainted. I had to leave work early because I was seeing black spots until I couldn't even make out words anymore. It was bad. So, cold turkey is obviously not for me. However, I've transitioned to an E-cigarette. It tastes sucky, but it's cheap and doesn't stink/make a mess, plus you can lower the nicotine-percentage. I'm at 12mg currently, and would like to be at 6mg or at least 9mg by the end of the challenge (ideally I'll not smoke at all, but as this is my side goal, I don't want to set myself up for failure). Side Goal 2: Off to King's Landing with Sansa Sub-Goal 1: Embrace the traditions I'm doing great with this and I'm feeling it turn into a habit - and I love it so much. I'm also starting to see changes - good changes - and need to keep doing this. I also like the ritual-feeling it gives me every evening before going to bed. Sub-Goal 2: Make demands My grandmas each give me 50€ for christmas. They give it to my mom before christmas so that she can buy me something that they can then give to me so they're not empty-handed. This year, I'm ordering more Korean beauty products. I've assembled a wish list on amazon, but I'm at something over 150€ at the moment, which is too much. So my small sub-goal is trimming this down to what I need most/what's best for my skin and what isn't just "omg a face spray in a kitty container I so need this" and then ordering it so it arrives in time for christmas! Sub-Goal 3: Quality time with Shae This includes: Getting eyebrows plucked and lady-stache waxed. But it also includes modeling. I'm the model for this super nice girl who's a first year apprentice (just like me!) in my hair salon. She did my eyebrows the other day and then asked if I'd like to model for her - because she can't do anything on customers but needs someone she can try things on. This will mostly be make-up and waxing/plucking right now, as she's not advanced enough for hair-cutting yet, but she might dye my lashes or something like that. Either way, it'll be loads of fun, it will most likely make me feel good and it'll be nice social interaction - all things I can use really well at the moment. I want to go to the salon at least 3 times during the challenge, no matter what for. This looks extensive. But it really isn't. Apart from the third sub-goal, my main quest consists of things I need to do anyways. The first side goal is just the same - maybe apart from sub goal 2. And the second side goal is seriously just for making myself feel good. Have a happy challenge, guys and gals.

I need help finding a way to study, I keep getting distracted and doing other things.