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"And so we have come full circle. The road journeys ever on, yet we note such anniversaries with thought and reflection. Perhaps it is time for our ranger to take bold new steps; to push further past her known boundaries and find new futures. For that, we must embrace the mindset and discipline of the monks, and the chosen tradition for Starpuck, will be the Way of the Empty Hand..." It was the September challenge of last year that I took on the goal of 100% or bust. I gave myself a heck of a reward as incentive (D&D terrain tiles) and I managed to pull it off. Not only that, the consistency proved the best part of that arrangement! Four weeks of effort set into motion what would become 4 months of forward progress. I lost 20 lbs and several inches. I gained strength. I felt great! I was tracking my food so consistently that I only just broke my MFP streak of 320 days. (There were a handful of only half tracked days in that span, to be fair and honest.) And the best part? I only ever gained about 3lbs back over the next 8 months. I have hovered between 140-143 at worst, ever since. I maintained! WIthout rage, or tantrum, or frustration, or guilt, or feeling deprived. It also gave my body a nice long time to get used to things at that point. And now? Now we step back in to a little bit more focused work. Way of the Empty Hand Monks of this tradition are masters of doing more with less. They focus their minds and determination on what can be obtained with both hands free, rather than with grasping onto the equipment and goods that other adventurers might rely on. They learn that the hand must remain open and empty, in order for it to grasp what challenges lie ahead. (So it's a play on Open Hand... which is a D&D tradition that exists.) Here's how it equates to my Ranger challenge: 1. Empty the Hand that holds the iron. - I already work out and that doesn't need much help in maintaining. Maybe being a bit more focused would help... but the actual doing is getting done. So, lets start working on some actual programs, that are pre-built, that I can follow and gain some guided strength and mobility. I also want to add either yoga (have the NF yoga, so that makes the most sense) or maybe some Tai Chi to build some slow down / balance / strength / mobility into my body. 2. Empty the Hand of mindless food indulgences! - Food wise, I do the right thing 85% of the time. It's not straining me at this level, but I also know where I can tighten that up. Game nights. Namely, I tend to have a snack always in hand during game nights so I need to learn how to 'empty the hand' during the 2-3 sessions per week I play in. I think I might even indulge in a little side game of getting some 'monk hand wraps'. Every snack I eat at game night wraps around a digit of mine. The goal being to not end up with the whole hand wrapped! *Ok, that might need some work, but I think I can do something with this. I also want to tighten up a bit on my choices of food. More lean protein, more veggies. I'm pretty good at this, but if I can get to a point where I crave grapes as a sweet snack, instead of cookies, all the better. (That might not happen, and that's okay. But I'd like to just continue to add more wholesome foods to my palate.) 3. Empty the Hand of whim buys and indulgent purchases. - Spending. My car is paid off and I want to focus on savings now. I have an app that is appropriately called 'Spending Tracker'. I have had mixed success with this one. I am great at tracking fuel, groceries for work and dinner costs. But once I forget a meal out, or a whim buy of a new notebook for D&D (this happens more than I want it to), I tend to stop tracking those things. And THOSE things are what most need tracking. This will help me tighten up my spending, AND accurately see how much I spend per month on necessities versus desires. And THAT helps me see the bigger picture on what housing costs I can afford. 4. Empty the Mind of thoughts of Perfection. - Art stuff. Sooo I guess a pencil in hand doesn't fit the empty hand analogy. But I can get deep here and say that it also implies a Monk of this tradition must empty their minds of preconceived expectations on themselves based off of others. IE - stop being so upset over how good or bad you are at something, and just focus on continuing to learn and progress. This will tie in to the monk discipline side of things. That's what I'll be working on this go around. I am going to focus things down a bit more precisely as the day goes on. I'll be using my pre-written BuJo to set this all up and keep track of what is getting down on what days too. The goal is 90% - because it's a 5 week challenge. And that's going to give me some wiggle room without it being rage-inducing. Which, it hasn't been in a long time, but I would rather set an attainable goal and surpass it, then set a really unfeasible one and then give up after having to wiggle early on it. Along the way, I hope to bring my monk along for the ride over on @Jarric 's adventure! Hopefully he needs a monk in his group. And oh! The bonus goal we're reaching for here ... see, yesterday I met a Jester at the Ren Faire. I called out to her and said, "Jester, do you have any donuts?" And she comes over, and says, (in perfect Jester voice) "Wellll actually I do!" and pulls out a prop donut. Then a prop lollipop! She was so spot on ya'all. My friend, who has Jester as his fave, missed her, but we found her again later. I apologized for bothering her again, but said that my friend would really love a picture with her. She obliged. And then said, "Do you know about the Traveler?" and I answered, "Of course! We're going to Traveler Con... the one that might be at the volcano!" And she just right back and forth with the banter. Then she pulls out a hand made, color printed pamphlet on The Traveler, and hands it to us. I was so inspired by this little gem of a cosplayer, that I think I've decided to cosplay as Beau for my next con. And that's a super bold move for me, but I want to try it. *nodnod* This challenge will help me get there.

When the job went wrong...well you probably know the rest. And wrong it has gone. Those of you following probably have a good picture of what's up. I just haven't been myself lately, at least not the good version of myself. I've let things get so far out of my control that I feel like a passenger in my own life. It's time to start taking the reins again. But after several crash-and-burn efforts I've decided to simplify this challenge to just the two most effective things I can do to start putting my fitness back on the right track: I'm going to eat, and I'm going to sleep. I've developed some terrible patterns and habits in these two areas, so this challenge needs to be a step toward bringing those back in line with what I want my life to be. My hope is that I can rebalance myself physically and start a cascade of improvements in other areas as well. Obviously there's a little more to it than that, but my SMART goals are to simply direct my nutrition in a way that promotes fat loss and to pursue sleep as a means to improve my overall well-being. For the first goal my specific measurement will simply be calorie intake, but I'm also going to be careful about the quality of those calories. Counting works for me, and I want the structure of a programmed daily target. For the second goal my specific measurement will be to log each night's actual bedtime. Again, I think the structure of daily targets will help me regain better sleep habits. For the first time in quite a while I have a spreadsheet to track my progress, and I'm actually excited about it instead of daunted by the prospect. I'm sure life (to say nothing of my current disposition) will take a giant steaming dump all over this challenge at some point, but when that happens I'm counting on y'all to hold me accountable and help me stay the course. Vizzini is dead. I'm going to go find the Man in Black.

"Almost all of the common people and other folk that one might encounter along the Sword Coast or in the North have one thing in common: they live out their lives without ever traveling more than a few miles from where they were born. You aren't one of those folk. You are from a distant place, one so remote that few of the common folk in the North realize that it exists, and chances are good that even if some people you meet have heard of your homeland, they know merely the name and perhaps a few outrageous stories." Starpuck Prepares for Traveling and Does Good Things Well! And apparently creates a title that will make grammar hounds twitch and Zoolander proud, lol! Keeping it super simple this time around folks. I may be recovering from a mild concussion brought on by one heck of a collision in my last hockey game. The professionals that checked me out weren't overly concerned but said to err on the side of a positive diagnosis and give my brain some chill time. I'm also a few weeks away from my first vacation of the year and would like to get myself prepared for that. Since walking is still on the allowed chart, and since I need to avoid the more strenuous activities and sports for a few weeks, I will tailor this challenge to doing what I can with what I've got. That is going to look like this: Eating of the Foods Continue to read and follow Intuitive Eating. This is not an easily tracked goal, so for the sake of accountability, I am going with a sort of negative points system. I will tally up points whenever I eat past my hunger, by as many points as I feel I've passed a good spot on the hunger scale. Ate just a bit past full because of reasons, that's a point. Go absolutely ape poop on food, that's three points. Cook things at home, eat tasty stuff that does good things to the body. I've slacked on the cooking of things due to timing, schedules and a feeling of being burnt out. Now that I am having more 'down' time to recover, it allows me the chance to expand on this area of exploration. Walking the Path Walk. Outside, inside, whatever- but do it daily. This is going to be hard because if it's at all cold, or cloudy or meh, I tend to not want to walk. The weather SHOULD be starting to break here in Chicagoville, so the goal is to get 20 minutes of consecutive walking a day for right now. Adjust as able. Cultures of Other Lands Art. Keep up the art habit. I've been on a better upswing of art. So keep at it. Get at least four days in a week, sketching and tablet time. D&D stuff. Keep slowly organizing the D&D notes onto Google Docs. Engage in prep work and creative minded projects for it, but don't obsess. Journal in the BuJo I do better when I keep up with my Bujo. The key to this is having the next week set up by the Sat/Sun prior, and making sure I think to open it during the weekend. Odds and Ends Set new budget and freaking stick to it. Plan out the trip details for vacation. Make plans with besties. Clean Closet? *wince* Create weekly time sheet. That's it folks! Simple and stress free. Keeping the focus on doing what I can, and doing it well.

Phase Two. This month I'm going to try something a little different to my previous challenges. After achieving my landmark pushup goal during the April challenge I simplified my workouts (thanks, NF) and set myself a workout plan (I may post this for critique). The original intention for this challenge was to concentrate on working towards handstands and working on rolling/fall breaking, but during the last challenge I came to the realisation that this isn't what I need to be focussing on right now. I find I'm sort of drifting around without any sort of direction, and this won't sort itself out. So this challenge I'm starting my new quest to simplify life and find my new direction. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I sure as hell can't sit quietly and drift through life. In the words of Gandalf the Grey: Quest 1. Share the awesome Even the suckiest of days contains a little glimmer of hope. At least that's what I'm going to attempt to prove to myself... Each day I'll post 1 awesome thing that happened. This can be anything that brightened my day even if by a little; whether it be a life altering achievement, hitting a workout goal, or something small like seeing a Deer on the way to work, or something funny that happened during the day. Quest 2. Chinups. AKA; "the Assassiny one" Last challenge I increased my Chinup AMRAP from 6 to 8 reps. This month I'm going for 10. That's it, simples. Quest 3. Hitting the Trails. Now that the weather is getting better (read: drier and less grey) I can get back to trail running more regularly. I love running out in nature but am rarely excited about it. To encourage me to actually get out there I'm setting a goal to run a total of 25km during the challenge. Quest 4. Life Stuff I have a little list of stuff that needs doing, most are annoying adult things I have been putting off. I may add extra things as the challenge continues, but I'm not allowed to take anything off. Book car in to get serviced. Cancel my subscriptions to Guitarist and Guitar & Bass magazines. Register for my next Open University module. Give my bass guitars a full setup and repair/replace the dodgy output jack on the P-Bass. I enjoy this but have been neglecting it for too long, so it's on the list. Read Level Up Your Life. Type up qualifications and references for CV. Note: I'm not actively looking for a new job this month, but I want to have a complete CV ready just incase something comes up. Organise my books and donate/sell anything I don't want need to keep. Book in VIP meerkat experience and safari park. Organise desk and drawers. Optimise that Batcave! Book appointment with bank to open an ISA. Go to aforementioned appointment. Bonus points for not being an awkward mess during. Aside from whatever the Assassin Mini is this month, I also plan on joining the PVP group for doing the Darebee Daily Dares. Seems like a good way to connect with more forum members (which I frankly suck at). Let's do the thing!

"Mal Ravenne" is Elvish for Golden Lioness ..... It seemed to embody the story arc for this coming year's quest to turn around my life, get brave, and return to pursuing my dreams. When I went to St. Olaf College (the crest is a golden lion ... mane-less, btw ......) I had certainly not intended to live a small life as an administrator. As I recall, I wanted to go into the Peace Corps and then study archeology. So, this is a ROUGH plan for improving in 4 areas of my life this coming year. Fitness, nutrition, regaining self-confidence, and taking responsibility for my habits and environment. The NEXT post will include the EPIC things I want to do or accomplish ..... Challenge 1 - Escape the Maze of IllusionsFinish C25K training Eliminate alcohol (& other liquid calories) and high protein breakfast: Levels 1 & 2 NF Diet Listen to the Self-Esteem CDs (Jack Canfield) Cook one healthy meal dailyChallenge 2 - Recover in the House of Healing (<= 36.62% BF)Finish NF BWW 3 Cut out chips, fries, and chocolate (other than very good, very dark chocolate) Apprentice in HOORAY Groom dog (life side quest) Reduce body fat to 36%Challenge 3 - Equip for the Journey (BF 35%)Body weight workouts (NFA BWW 4) Level 3 NF Diet - replace processed carbs with vegetables at lunch and dinner Wear contacts again Find or create a job Finish 100 geocaches foundSummer A - Shanghaied!! Aboard the Northern Girl (BF 34%)We interrupt this previously scheduled program with an adventure on the high seas!! (Part A)10K steps per day Sturgeon Tank FitDeck Nutrition points Summer Activities Practice web programmingSummer B - Not my idea of a Caribbean Cruise! (BF 33%)Following the clues up the river to the Burned CityDiet - stick to <= 1550 net calories (add for exercise) and protein >= 66 grams Do a chin up or pullup with <= 30 pounds of assistance Deadlift 80 pounds Walk/run 10K Decipher the clues (i.e. move)Post-Summer Reorientation Challenge 6 - Not Waiting to be Rescued

Here is my list of goals for this challenge. I'll fill out where my starting point is at a later point, but wanted to at least get this up here. Goal 1: Eat at least 80% paleo. Allowance of 42 Non-Paleo Tokens (NPTs) (accounting for 3 meals and up to 2 snacks per day)Goal 2: Lose at least 2.5% body fat. Starting point: 28.58%Goal: 26% or lowerGoal 3: Complete the NF Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Workout 2-3 times per week. Life Goal: Get rid of 50 more pounds of stuff. Onward!

I suffered a difficult setback last challenge after being rushed to the hospital for an Emergency Appendectomy. I'm still recovering. I'm still not happy about it. Unfortunately, it triggered other discontentment that I had been holding at bay. I did very good last challenge with one specific de-cluttering goal, and this time I'm going to up it to two. I also need to make myself work on a side venture I am starting, and giving myself some goals in that area should help. I am officially on a really crappy plateau, so I need to figure out something to do about that. Either ride it out, or find a way to shake it up - all while recovering from abdominal surgery. So this should be a good emotional ride. BADASS WOMAN Part of my level 50 involves reducing my consumption. I hesitate to say 'live a minimalist lifestyle' because I am big into hobbies and I come from a long line of hoarders, so I'm not sure I'll ever get to a true minimalist level. My two goals for this challenge are: get my laundry room and study shelves under control. If I get more done in these areas that is great, but for now I need to go through everything on the shelves in both of these rooms, and take care of the stuff there accordingly. Get my act together with my new pet project. I get so excited about it, and then nothing happens. I've decided on a name. I've figured out the audience, direction, mission, vision, tag lines, etc. DO SOMETHING WITH IT. Logo, website, first blog. Do it. Get a few key products figured out, and start the etsy side. My plateau is still firmly in place. This blows. Continue to work out a minimum of 4 days a week and track all food. Keep carbs down below 50g net a day (except Saturday), and stick to a slightly lower calorie level for 6 weeks to see what happens instead of eating back most exercise calories. I can vary a little on this, depending, but I need to tighten it up.SIDE QUESTS I need to stuck it up and take care of things that drive me crazy. Step one: spend ten minutes when I first get home in the kitchen. This is mostly to clear the sink, because dirty dishes make me stabby. I have a good routine getting my stuff ready for the next day but I hate waking up to the dirty dishes in the sink! Get off the scale. Seriously. It is a good for nothing lying bastard. Put it out of sight. If I go to the doctor I can check. If I get my bodpod scan I can see. I can weigh once in December 9th for my monthly tracking, but that's it at home. I need a mental break from it, especially while I'm healing. I'm not going to change any of my awesome routine regardless of what it says. So no more of that controlling crap for awhile. Spend less time on Facebook in the evenings. I get caught up in scrolling through everyone else's life and I don't want to miss my own. Except for checking my fitness page after work, no wasting brain cells until 8pm during the week.MOTIVATION PROGRESS 4 Points a week for exercise 7 Points a week for dealing with dishes 7 Points a week for staying off the scale (1 freebie, 09 Dec) 4 Points a week for staying off Facebook until 8pm Mon-Thur 22 Points/week possible for base points. 10 Points for dealing with the shelves in my Laundry Room 10 Points for dealing with the shelves in my Study 10 Points for being having my website URL purchased, website started, one blog written, and one product mocked up Week 1: 21/22 Points Week 2: 21/22 Points Week 3: 22/22 Points Week 4: 32/22 Points (+10 for dealing with the shelves in my Laundry Room) Week 5: 30/22 Points (+10 Points for dealing with the shelves in my Study) Week 6: 27/22 Points (+ 5/10 for side venture) Total: 153/162 or 94%

My gazillionth challenge. Bring it on. Main Quest Body weight squat. Sanity. Goals: Squat: 145. That's 15 lbs in 6 weeks. Again, it's not ambitious but it should be do-able. Game Plan: Squat. 2x week, test adding FS back in on deadlift days. Accessory: Minimizing time in the gym was good in some ways but over all it left me underwhelmed. Time to forget that noise. Focusing on doing accessory work to address squat weakness. Aiming to find a nice middle ground. Game Plan: Add in some of my previously removed accessory work. Super set like a boss. Mobility: Increase it, efficientize it. I'm going to work on ankles/calves for squats, but also shoulders because they're a little wonky. I'm going to experiment with mobilizing every night and see if that helps reduce the amount of mobility I need to do pre lift. Game Plan: Mobilize nightly - 20 mins or less. At gym - post lift (I seem to get the most bang for my buck when I do this); Focus - Mobilizing what I just worked. At home - whenever as long as I do it; Focus - Goats (mostly ankles), anything I've been ignoring, my next day lift stuff. Simplify: Again, I'm just back from vacation. Again, I got way too burnt out leading up to it. In anticipation of vacation I didn't take any time off of Job 2 and that sucked. The simplifying from last time was mostly successful. I got my morning and night routine stuff down and it's helped a ton. I didn't do as well with the morning stretching. So, revisiting that. Game Plan: Reassess mobility and glute activation. Experiment with setting timer. Plan and put in for off days at Job 2. I didn't do a wrap up of my last challenge (1. because I was nerding and 2. because I don't really ever anymore), but the other stuff I was working on went really well. I spend the majority of my spare evening time reading now, instead on the computer (my pinterest account is getting dusty) and I've pretty successfully removed myself from the work drama. I'm not sure if it's just not being in it anymore or what, but it seems like there's less around now that I've made my stance pretty clear. Regardless of the reason, I'm happy(ier). Side Quest: Annoyingly private side quest is annoyingly private. But new goal is to do at least one thing for it weekly. I'll check in with pass/fail.

Another challenge!! And I'm early. WHAT? Main Quest Body weight squat. Sanity. Goals: Ankle & Calf Mobility - This is pretty straightforward. I'm diligent about upper leg/hip mobility but less so about lower leg and ankle. Fix that so ankle mobility stops limiting my squat ROM. Squat - Again, straightforward. Since I didn't hit it last time, I'm going to aim for 135. Hanging out between 120 - 125 right now, but with the form and mobility issues I'm having I'm not trying to get too ambitious. Simplify - Vacation made me realize I was totally burnt out. Working two jobs and training 3 - 4 days each week doesn't leave me a lot of down time. I spent some time during the challenge break assessing the areas in my life that need simplifying. I'm going to tackle a couple and then reasses after this challenge. This will be multipart goal. 1. Cut down time spent in the gym. I easily end up being at the gym for 2.5-3 hours on days I train. Not all of that is working out. A good 30 minutes is getting dressed and warming up/mobilizing. Another 10-20 is post workout cool down and mobility. I've tried minimizing the warm up, it doesn't work. Plan: Warm up as long as necessary. Super set accessory as much as possible. Limit cool down to 5 minutes or a few stretches. Pick accessory work with most bang for the buck.2. Make morning routine more efficient. I wake up every morning, stretch, and do some kind of glute activation. All of that is necessary. What isn't necessary is the amount of mobility I include. I also, often times, spend too much time getting gym stuff and/or food ready for the day. Plan: Write up a list of mobility I need to do daily, and a list of extra mobility. Schedule it so I only do one or two more each morning and alternate them each day of the week. Alternate amount of glute activation daily. Pack gym bag and make food the night before.Other, non challenge related stuff I'm working on: Meditation - of course.Limiting screen time to help for sleep. Right now, I'm aiming to cut off at 8 pm.Minimizing engagement in work related drama. Let's get this started!

Ok, this is my 5th challenge. And, I honestly had a hard time deciding where I wanted to go with this one. Obviously recomping is my main goal as there is still work to be done there, but I have aimed my last 3 challenges at just recomping and I needed something different this time around. I found I was feeling a sense of boredom, no challenge. Funny thing, since I have been reading peoples new threads I see that a lot of people are sharing a similar idea of wanting something new to add to their challenges. Sooooo, as my friend swampling titled her new thread..........here's to something old and something new! MAIN QUEST Recomp. There is still some leaning out to do and some muscle to build. Now, the three missions I have chosen to focus on this round are going to aim at more than just the recomp basics (macros & weight training), but still move me forward to that end, improving me physically in all aspects. MISSION 1: Macros. In my first challenge I aimed at eating when I was hungry, focusing on sensible portions and eating clean. When I began the recomp I started aiming to hit a specific number of CALS/ PRO/ CHO/ and FATS. And I have done that the last 4 challenges. You know what I found. I don't like it and it stresses me out. Having to weigh everything, measure it out specifically down to adding or subtracting beans or spoonfuls does not fit in my life well. Now don't get me wrong, if it works for you it is awesome for fine tuning your nutrition goals. But, ultimately for me.........I just want to teach my kiddos that they can enjoy eating sensibly and cleanly. So, I am going to perform a little experiment with this challenge. I am going to only track my food daily not actual macro numbers. I believe there are 42 days to this challenge so my goal will be to have 42 days of 'Good Nutrition'. Each day that I eat clean, sensible portions with no snacking or junk gets counted toward that 42 days. This also includes the weekly refeeds (usually Saturday or Sunday). That will keep it simple and refeeds are planned. I have been doing macros long enough that I know what enough protein and such looks like in my day. And I use protein powders and such so no worries there. My aim over the course of this challenge will be to see if this approach will be as successful as it was my first challenge and lead to continued inches lost. Grading: 42 days A 35-41 days B 25-34 days C anything under 25 is a FAIL for the challenge This will make things simpler because I can focus more on FAMILY meals and not trying to separate my meals from theirs ALL of the time. And how I successfully handled my first challenge. MISSION 2: Yoga (balance, core & flexibility). I did yoga once in a past life (lol). But have not in a long time. Strength training makes me stronger but really does not do much for my flexibility or terrible balance. (And it is terrible, uh hum. ) I was introduced to Bellyfit last challenge and there is a half hour section of yoga/ core work that I usually skipped, as I was just doing the cardio. So, I will have three days of weight training and 2 days of the week I will do Bellyfit with the yoga work or I will add another yoga workout on Bellyfit days. I can also choose to do yoga and some other cardio like my freestyle dance or Zumba. MISSION 3: Bellydance! This is not just for the core work involved, it is also just for the sheer darn fun of it. I took bellydance a long time back, and I loved it. But, like some things in life I just didn't because I told myself there was no time for ME anymore. Well, this is. Good core work and destressing and fun. I am going to relearn the basics of bellydance with this program: And I am also incorporating learning one of the numerous varieties of bellydance known as tribal fusion. I will be using this one: So I will have 3 days of weight training interspersed with 2 days of cardio/ yoga and one day (probably Saturdays) of a bellydancing lesson. Grading: A for 6 days completed, B 4-5 days completed, C 3 days completed, and a FAIL for the challenge for less. LIFE GOAL: This will be a continuation of my life goal from the last challenge just more simplified and encompassing and shall be known as Project Organization as it will be an inside out approach. The idea being to simplify and organize ALL aspects of my life. Unlike last challenge I shall not make this a daily goal but more weekly. The aim to be at least 3 days a week devoted to simplifying or organizing some aspect. Because, quite frankly, there are days (more than I would like to admit lol) that I do well just to make all the basics in a day happen. But, I thrive on simplicity and organization so it was important to me to carry this over to this new challenge. Ok, there it is in a nut shell. I may tweak this more later. And now a shout out to my accountabilibuddy Vilkacis (who has been with me 5 challenges now)....... LET'S DO THIS!!!!! :triumphant: :triumphant:

FITNESS As part of my Operation: Middle-Age Extension, I have three specific fitness goals for this six-week challenge: 1) Move my 8 rep bench press set from 135 to 170 -- that's a little more than five pounds per week. STR 4 | 170+ A 160 B 150 C 140 D 2) Move my unassisted pull up from (sometimes) one to a consistent four. STR 2, CON 2 | 4 A 3 B 2 C 1 D 3) Move my plank from being inconsistent 30 seconds to three minutes, to a consistent two minutes. Closer to washboard abs. STA 2, CHA 2 | 2 A 1.5 B 1 C <1 D All of these goals will require a consistent dedication to a workout program and a good diet. So I will not add any diet goals this time around. LIFE I have a collection of "everys" here. I will collect every receipt for every purchase. At the end of the challenge I will post my expenditures so I can find out where my money goes, cause baby, it's not staying is Savings. I will train handstands every day. Thanks for the inspiration for that, Steve. I will get up when the alarm goes off every morning -- 5:50 on weekdays, 8:00 on weekends. WIS 3 Get online more often to support my fellow Rangers. That seemed to be a challenge for me last time.

Last challenge I got really stressed out. It was my 6th challenge in a row and I ended up scrapping it on purpose on week 3. I had to cut myself a break, or I was going to lose my mind. A lot of stuff about my life changed. I gave up paleo. I gave up running. I started walking. I started eating whatever I want, and wouldn't you know after 9 months of clean eating, what I want is mostly clean food. Huh. I gave up body-comp, size, and weight goals. I realized I like my body the shape that it is. I also realized I spend a whole lot of time screaming at my body that it's terrible and it better shape up or else, and no time acknowledging that my body is healthy, it works properly, I can't remember the last time I had an illness of any kind, and I can do the things I want to do with my time. All this time, while I've been berating it, my body has been quietly doing what it does so I can do what I want to do. Who knew. My ultimate goal for the next 6 weeks is to live my life as it is right now, and find all the little nooks and crannies of happiness that are already there. I have chosen 2 goals instead of the traditional 4. I do not have a diet goal; after 9 months of strict paleo, my dietary habits are pretty much above reproach. I can trust myself around food. I am not running or doing bodyweight exercises right now. I need a break from them for a short while, so I have chosen to walk and do yoga instead. If you sleep for 8 hours and work for 8 hours, that leaves 8 hours left on weekdays (and more on weekends) to do whatever you want. When the walking and the yoga sessions are done each day, I will be spending the rest of my hours getting outside and into the community to enjoy summer 2013. And blogging about it. This is my 7th challenge. I will be settling back into the shadows to heal and recover, getting mentally stronger and physically more balanced. I am planning to resume traditional 4-goal challenges with challenge #8 (which I'm already planning, and it's going to be epic). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [sambieWlks] Chapter the Seventh: Now Goal 1: Walk 1 mile daily I measured a one-mile loop on the back roads by my house, and I want to walk this circuit each morning. If I miss a morning walk, I can do it later in the day. Scoring: Tally (42 days = 100%) XP: +3 STA, +3 CON, +2 WIS Goal 2: Complete the DoYogaWithMe 6-Week Beginner Program I have been using DoYogaWithMe's free online videos for several months now and I love them. I just discovered they have a new 6-week introductory program that combines their tutorials with the routines in an organized progression. I'm not a super beginner with yoga, but the structure and content of this program really appeals to me. And, most of the routines are ones I've not done before, so I am really excited to dive in. Scoring: Total Weeks Completed (6 weeks completed = 100%) XP: +3 DEX, +2 CHA, +2 WIS Bonus: Participate in the weekly mini-challenges in the Assassins' forum. Secret goals: Accomplishing these goals are like getting a chipmunk to eat out of my hand*. Right now, I'm sitting veeeery still with a pile of birdseed in my hand and the chipmunk is RIGHT THERE MAN. I'm already doing these goals on autopilot; the last thing I want to do is Make It A Big Deal and jinx the streak. So shhhh don't look at these goals directly in the eyes, don't make any sudden movements, don't make a lot of noise, and hopefully they won't run away. **Meditate daily. 1 minute will do, 7 minutes is better (my current level), 10 minutes is great. **Take my herbs and supplements daily. I hate swallowing pills. It's such a big to-do, and herby supplement pills always seem to be the size of a baby carrot. But, gots to do it to get the benefits. *Based on a true story - when I was little I found a chipmunk hole in the ground and I wanted that chipmunk to be my friend. So one day I sat on the ground next to the hole, dumped a bucket of sunflower seeds on my legs to completely cover my lap, and waited. I sat more still than any child has ever sat in the history of children and/or sitting, and I was rewarded with a chipmunk sitting on my leg eating seeds. Until my brother snuck up behind me and yelled ON PURPOSE to scare it away. Brothers. Man. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are the weekly updates you're looking for: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

Hey there all fellow rebels around the globe Panczo here with new and shining 4th challlenge. Let's all have a good one, shall we? My last challenge was tittled Finding Balance which is quite funny since my life was far off the balance for these 6 weeks. I overplanned (as usual) and I felt wrecked down at the end (as usual). So instead of doing completely new challenge, I want to build upon good ideas and mistakes from the past. The plan is AGAIN to really find Balance and Peace BUT not by just laying around... So I cut out most of last challenge, which left me with only the most important stuff and I REEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLY want to add meditation which is in line with my continuation of writing my bucket list, life goals etc. Additonally I will have most of the weekends occupied cause I'm DJ'ing at weedings in June. This leaves me tired to around tuesday so I decided to be ok with only 1 gym session per week for now. So here we go: #1. Fitness - BW Strength Training x1/week. str = 4 With injured elbow I am left with BW Squats (10 pistols being my ultimate goal), core exercises (legs raises progression/ hollow body holds) and lower back (supermans etc.) If anyone has ANY sugesstions about training my upper body without using my left elbow - I would be highly thankfull!!! I will also do my morning routine - walks, joints circulations, stretchings, elbow rehabs - which takes me about 30mins but that won't be count here and so if I'm tired I can sleep longer and not worry about breaking my NF challenge stats #2. Diet - prepare meat and salads in bulks at the weekends. con = 3 it will be tricky with my weekends occupied but it's a matter of good organization. It saves lots of time during the week plus it's more healthy so I really want to continue that I would like to bulk one day, but don't know how to handle it since I don't train upper body. In the meantime I don't need to count my calories cause I dont mind maintaing, lossing or gaining weight. So I'm focusing more on eating more healthy stuff but without sucrifices (beer, wine, chocolate, pies - there are all here and there in moderation): I also try to continue to drink extra 0,75l of water at work, eat fruits everyday and eat my mix of seeds, nuts and dry fruits instead of chips, salt rods, etc. every time there is a occassion. - but they won't be tracked this time, so I can slip here and there and it won't break my stats - see how not overplanning I am this time ? #3. MEDITATION !!! 6x/week WIS - 1, HAP - 2 Yuuuuuuuuuuupi !! This one - oh may - I wanted to add meditation since my 1st challenge but never had time for it. This time I believe I do. But relax, I will go super-easy with it. I want to do it slowly and perhaps it will stick with me for good! Plan is to start with at least 5min of meditation in the morning (during my morning routine) and from week 4 add another "at least 5min" session in the afternoon ... After each week I will bump up the minimum time by 1min ! #4. Life mini-goals. WIS 2,5; CHA 2,5; I do like this kind of format for life goal - since fitness-related stuff are only part of my life, though very important, I like to have more than 1 goal for all others areas of my life. And here is where mini-goals comes in handy: a) continue to work on my personal constitution, life pronciples, roles and bucket list - which means more digging inside 2h/week WIS = 2,5 create my blog - have a domain, installed theme AND first post- this is my reward from previous challenge now it's time to keep the promise CHA 0,5 c) at the end of the challenge post before and after pics of me - i don't expect changes, it's more about fighting my self-consciousness. = CHA 2 that's it. Simplicity rules. I throwed out many things from previous challenge, some of them I will still try to accomplish, but they are not my priority at the moment. These things above are! What do you guys think? Am I cured from overplanning for now? some start stats: bw squats: level 5= atg squats 1s x 5r leg raises: level 1=knee tucks 1s x 20r weight: 76kg - 167lbs height: 188cm - 74" BMI: 21,5 BF: 16,54% - using simple body fat calliper waist: 76cm thigh: 54cm S.L.U.T.................