Search the Community

Book: Water Also known as the Tale of Tzippi and the Too Many Tags I am returning to the Rebellion after a long battle with a demon of depression. The dark spirit swept in as I was weakened by becoming a mother. I am doing better now, and am just beginning to practice Tai Chi, which (along with the fine spring weather) is inspiring me to respawn here, as a monk. One goal under each bending style is a constant habit, one-two one-time goals under are straight up success if done. Thanks for the help refining my foals, @sarakingdom Goal One: Plantbending ☆ Eat 2 fruits and veg per day. (If this gets too easy, up it to 3). ☆ Research and plan an indoor greens growing system. ☆ Shop for weeStockings sized garden tools, pit on wish list. Goal Two: Waterbending ☆ Exercise every day to support Tai chi. On class days, go to class. Other days, Hammer, walk, yoga . . . ☆ Sweep back deck for morning practice. Goal Three: Cloudbending ☆ Harness the breath like an Airbender by Meditating 5 minutes daily. ☆ DONE. Get reusable travel mug again. A nice ceramic one with a silicone lid. ☆ For week with April 1st, make a new Gratitude BuJo spread. ☆ With first paycheck, sign up for Calm premium subscription.

Boy has it been a year. There was a point last year where I really felt I had my fitness identity figured out and I knew what *I* needed to do for success. But I had some mental health and relationship issues to take care of first and that blew everything else out of the water. It's been really tough to get my head back in the game, so much so that I had completely lost track of what was starting to work before. This year has brought a few ups, and many downs. But my head is finally in the game and I feel ready to make some progress. I think I've blown enough of the cobwebs off of my fitness brain and I'm ready to . . . Kick Names and Take Ass While trying to get my head on straight I started assessing all the underpants I've collected since starting NF and tried to do some decluttering. I'm left with the underpants that work and make sense for me. It's a constant balancing act between what works and what works AND I can stick to. I still don't have a full picture of what all those underpants looks like together, but it's getting less foggy. So before I ramble anymore, on to the goals! Food Goal: Here is what I have learned from collecting underpants... I know I need to find a way to strike a balance between being too restrictive and then not being restrictive enough. I enjoyed doing the Whole30 because of the 'freedom' to eat without logging. Eating real food just makes me feel better and makes it more difficult to go off the rails. Paleo speaks to me but I'm not willing to cut out all the foods that are restrictive with Paleo or Whole30 long term. Until my spiral, I was able to find a good balance between logging food and eating Whole30(ish) Logging food is beneficial, maybe (and hopefully not) permanently, but it works. I finally took a look at some of Michael Pollan's food rules and they speak to me in the same way but are less restrictive. Eat Food. Not Too Much of it. Mostly Plants It occurs to me that the Paleo-ish I've been striving for is really just clean eating and Pollan's rules line up quite well with that ideal. So that's what I'm aiming for. Ideally, my goal would be to eat clean 80% of the time, and only log food if I venture into non-Food (processed food). But since I'm also in the healthy living program at work, I''ll stick with logging my food all the time. 1 point for eating at least 3 freggies a day 2 points for at least eating with a deficit (preferably over 750) 3 points for either eating clean all day or staying under MFP calorie target.(I haven't actually decided what this limit should be. Last time I was really successful it was around 1500 but that was tough to stick to. I've been at 1900 for awhile and it seems to be just under maintenance.) Fitness Goal: More underpants.... Being more active daily can only be good My workouts need to have a higher intensity. This brings results and keeps me motivated Do what you enjoy. I enjoy playing with sledgehammers and barbells* Never miss 2 days in a row Rest is also beneficial Consistency is key Ideally I'd like this to be a good old fashioned rucking and sledgehammer challenge. I'm still working on getting a good tire to have at home. I don't have access to the one at fancy gym now. But really anything goes as long as the intensity is there and it's something I enjoy. 1 point for at least doing something 2 points for at least getting 8000 steps 3 points for either getting 10,000 steps or doing a workout. Rest days also count as 3 points for purposes of point streaks but only up to twice a week. Low intensity workouts (along the lines of yoga and housework) can count once per week Chain Bonuses: I really like this aspect of my past few challenges, I just need to not be lazy. I want that 1,000,000 points but I want to earn it. Since I'll be challenging for 35 days, I've adjusted the points accordingly. The MN State Fair is during this challenge and don't think there is any clean food in sight, it just won't stay on the stick. So I'm counting the fair day as a freebie for the food goal. To balance that out, I can count one of the driving days as a freebie for the fitness goal. *not a euphemism

Sorry to disappoint, but here will be little Leather and makeup in this challenge, Just a reminder to myself to KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID! Theme is minimal, just an excuse to post songs and memes. Prince - Best Goal (the one I most want to do because I love it) - 3x sledgehammer workout per week (14 mintues each, per Shovelglove rules) Faith Hill - Distance Goal (because there could be hills? I know its a stretch . . .) 3 walks per week with my son. RHCP - Food Goal (Suck my . . . nutrients? I really need to rethink this theme) - Greens 1/day, leafy or cruciferous. No excuses - Chained goal. Cher - Cooking goal (Soup Soup) - One batch cooking per week. definition is something that can feed me and my husband for at least three days. Curry, chili, soup, chopped salad . . . Tarkan - Dance Goal - One time zil practice, one time shimmy practice, one time rolls practice per week.

I need to define my goals: short-term, long-term, personal, professional, all of it. I'm drifting between things I think I should be doing and things I feel I have to do, and I'm not happy. My needs aren't being met because I don't know what they are right now. I have things I want to do but am scared to make big changes because it could mean losing my stability. THE PLAN, in order of priority: Start meditating Figure out my needs, work on my goals Work out at LEAST 2x/week I'm not going to track food/fasting or yoga. Those are fine right now. (Yay!) Disclaimer: I'm a leftist socialist queer and genderqueer (they/them pronouns) sex positive hippie who is an active member of The Resistance. Any photos I post here will be safe, but if you follow the links I cannot guarantee your continued employment if you're looking at work. :-p

Weight, weight, go away. Don't come back again someday. I don't fit into most of my leather skirts any more, so I'm getting rid of that 20lbs. Again. Also, I lied. I said I was going to give it another challenge before counting calories, but I should know by now that I tend to modify my plans pretty much immediately. So I've started counting calories again (waaaa) and am trying to get at LEAST two workouts in every week. THE PLAN: 1. Work out at LEAST 2x/week 2. Attend lunch time office yoga 3. Log the calories Intermittent fasting ~4 days/week and continue on with the No S Diet (no snacks, no sweets, no seconds, except on S days) BONUS: Meditate? Get an app or something? Mindfulness has appealed in the past, and I've enjoyed what I've dabbled with. So, I'm going to figure out something do do with that. Disclaimer: I'm a leftist socialist queer and genderqueer (they/them pronouns) sex positive hippie who is an active member of The Resistance. Any photos I post here will be safe, but if you follow the links I cannot guarantee your continued employment if you're looking at work. :-p

It's not about the fact that you stopped, but about starting again, as many times as you need to. Been thinking a lot about body image, mental health, and how exercise ties in so closely with both of those things. My story so far ... I joined Nerd Fitness and was successful in losing the 20lbs I'd wanted to lose for years. But I stopped working out nearly two years ago because my knee was hurting so much and my physiotherapist said she'd show me how to do squats properly. She never did. I went through a rough break up ~six months later and didn't have the mental health benefits of regular exercise to help me through it. I went on antidepressants (third time in my life) and worked on looking after my emotional and mental health. In the last six months I've gained back the 20lbs I lost when I joined Nerd Fitness and started working out regularly. I'm off antidepressants and am looking at exercise to help with body image and mental health, trying not to focus on the weight, but on strength and sustainability. Indefinite dieting is ridiculous, so I'm not worrying about calories but am generally trying to stick to the No S Diet (no snacks, no sweets, no seconds, except on days that begin with S). I've got the BBWW in my back pocket, and also have a sledgehammer for the Shovelglove workout. Last challenge I got myself a gym membership so I can work out during the day, since I'm often too tired to work out by the time I get home in the evening. I've got a log book to help me keep track of what I do, especially when I go to the gym. I've already mucked it up (I didn't put in the sledgehammer moves, oops) but that doesn't matter! I make it work for me. And so! Once again my plan is pretty much the same as last time, but after this long I'm happy with it. The Plan: Stretch M/W Exercise 2x per week. Any additional workouts are a bonus. I'm doing the thing again, and that feels good.

AKA - Wonder Woman Goes into Battle Welcome to the third installment of this summer's Wonder Woman blockbuster challenge series! There isn't much new here but I'm continuing with what works and tweaking the rest. I have two primary goals - to prepare for this fall's HammerRace and to defeat the nasty scale. Naturally, my focus is more on the former and less on the latter. Hopefully taking care of one will take care of the other by default. If that doesn't work I might just take my hammer to the scale and that will be the end of it. I am rolling Week 0 as well as the Week 0 from the end of the challenge into this challenge to make another proper 6 week challenge. This format works best for me and the last challenge reminded me of that. During this challenge I have a family vacation planned from August 9th - 14th. The kids and I will be camping in the Rocky's and the Badlands. Then another trip the 25th-29th for the Minnesota State Fair. Power I am currently at the beginning of week 3 for my 5/3/1 lifting program. I won't actually have any time during week 0 to get to the gym since my first vacation starts mid week. But my goal is to hit the gym twice per week. Workout A is DL and OHP, Workout B is Squats and Bench. Grace I need to get 3 other workout sessions in a week, ideally each and every one of these will involve a hammer. This 6 week challenge will go up to just a few weeks before the HammerRace. I need to get comfortable doing some running with the hammer as well as just building up strength wielding the hammer. This will likely come to fruition with 2 Sledgehammer Shenanigan TM workouts a week, and then supplement with a short hammer run or just some tire slams at home. I am allowing some non-hammer substitutions. I will still benefit from some running without the hammer or maybe some rucking. While on vacation there will be a lot less hammering and more substituting with non-hammer activities. Wisdom I basically stopped logging food sometime during the last challenge. I'm still logging into MFP but I'm not doing anything. I really liked not having to worry about logging food during my Whole30 and I'd like to recreate that. I still use MFP for meal planning purposes but with the right choices I don't have to worrry about the MFP drudgery day to day. So I'm going to try a modified Whole30/Paleo so that I don't have to log food. The following is my attempt at making this SMART but really these are just guidelines. Unlimited - Paleo approved foods are allowed in unlimited quantities - as determined by appetite of course Controlled - There are some exceptions to Paleo that I am allowing but they must be in controlled amounts to still allow for not logging.. This also includes some calorie dense paleo approved foods. These should be in controlled amounts only... approximately 1 serving of each daily although exceptions are allowed if I can make a case for the choice. nuts, dairy, peanut butter, even some low processed whole grains Limited - These are foods that, in general, aren't condusive to my goals but it's also not good to be that restrictive and these foods are not necessarily bad enough to be variances. They are like variance wannabes. Other grains... I guess that's the whole list. I'm sure I'll add to this as I go. Variances - Last challenge I limited sweets to one per day. I get that not being restrictive is good for the soul but this was jsut too much. 3 variances are allowed a week. ice cream, pizza, sweets, fries... the list is long and we all basically know what is on this list. Some exceptions and fine tuning: This is all about being able to make good choices day to day so these are really just guidelines. I'd like to stick to it closely enough to be successful without logging food and without being too restrictive and allowing for some indulgences. Wonder Wonder is going to look a bit different this time. My sanity no longer hinges on making the most of my summer. The end of August and into September is always the most hectic time of the year and the transition from summer into the school year always makes me a little bit crazy. Qbert starts high school this year as well as cross country and any number of other acedemic clubs. Peach is properly in middle school and dance classes start up soon too. The class I teach starts in a couple weeks as well. Although this semester I am back to just 1 class and it is my favorite and easiest class. So Wonder here is focused on being organized and prioritizing so that I have time to relax as well. I really really need to start up my bujo again as there are lots of important dates to keep track of and I need to keep up on the crochet so I can organize an auction in October. This goal isn't very SMART as is but I think it will become more concrete as I go.

So I'm back up to the weight (or something close to it) and size that I was when I first joined Nerd Fitness and started working out. The last three years have taught me that weight and size don't really matter to me though; it's strength and flexibility I'm after. I want to be able to crush watermelons with my thighs! I want to be able to outmanoeuvre people bigger and stronger than me if we were to wrestle. I know that it took me about four months to get to a shape I was proud of the first time I did this, and I got there through calorie reduction, BBWW, and swimming. I know I can do it again. The Plan: Stretch/yoga M/W/F Gym/swim T/T To Do: Fix the brakes on my bike and do an annual tuneup Get in the pool if I'm not going to the gym Buy new gym shoes since mine went missing Find a place for the self-defence classes offered by my friend's friend to happen because wrasslin? F YEAH. Find my sledgehammer Get a pullup bar installed in the garage PARTY And because I feel like I need to say it now more than ever ... Disclaimer: I'm a queer, genderqueer (they/them pronouns), poly, kinky, social justice tank. The photos I share here will be SFW, but if you follow the link to my Instagram page, you will probably (definitely) see things that are not. Don't be a creep! Don't click through if you don't want to see! Cool? Cool.

Last challenge I signed up for a gym and have gone twice! I've been slacking on the yoga. The plan is the same for this challenge. THE PLAN Yoga: Monday / Wednesday / Friday Work out: Tuesday / Thursday Disclaimer: I'm a queer, genderqueer (they/them pronouns), poly, kinky, social justice tank. The photos I share here will be SFW, but if you follow the link to my Instagram page, you will probably see things that are not.

I took a year to rest and recover with the Druids, and now I'm ready to come back to the Assassins! I'm ready to start working out again more regularly and more seriously. I miss the strength I gained and the visible muscles I had. I've made a lot of progress on getting more sleep on a regular basis, and that's helped a lot. I've been working on not snacking in the evenings, but it messes with my stomach, so a light nighttime snack is actually a good thing for me. Since sleep and food are good, they're not on the plan any more. Here's what I've got! THE PLAN Yoga: Monday / Wednesday / Friday Work out: Tuesday / Thursday I have yoga at lunch on Wednesdays, so that's the easy one. For workouts, I will swing my sledgehammer for 15 minutes, or hula hoop, or do my physio exercises for my knee. I'm keeping it really simple for this one because I'll get overwhelmed too easily with more. Disclaimer: I'm a queer, genderqueer (they/them pronouns), poly, kinky, social justice tank. The photos I share here will be SFW, but if you follow the link to my Instagram page, you will probably see things that are not.

I made progress on my life quest in January - now to continue! Challenge: Move (physio, bodyweight workout, sledgehammer, cycling, swimming, etc. 5x per week) Stretch (5x per week) Eat (no snacks 5x per week) Life Quest: Finish updating that pesky resume! Again I will keep my daily hits and misses to my battle log, and use this thread for general "how am I doing/feeling" updates and thoughts. Fair warning: I am queer, agender, poly, and kinky. I will warn you if any content or links I share is NSFW, and put questionable stuff behind a cut.

I am strong. I am powerful. Challenge: Move (physio, bodyweight workout, sledgehammer, cycling, swimming, etc. 5x per week) Stretch (5x per week) Eat (no snacks 5x per week) Life Quest: Update that pesky resume! Again I will keep my daily hits and misses to my battle log, and use this thread for general "how am I doing/feeling" updates and thoughts. Fair warning: I am queer, agender, poly, and kinky. I will warn you if any content or links I share is NSFW, and put questionable stuff behind a cut.

Welcome to Part II of my last challenge, The Path of the Barbarian. On the surface, this may appear to be a simple repeat of the last challenge. Ok, technically, it is. But there is a reason behind this. Simply put, it worked so well that I WANT to do it again. Also, the holiday break so sufficiently disrupted my awesome routine that I NEED to do it again. Just to make sure I haven't lost any Barbarian savagery. Without further delay, the challenge itself:Goal 1 - Barbarian Mobility: This is the primary focus of the challenge, same as last time. A true Barbarian should be able to traverse all kinds of terrain, even while carrying a heavy load, even over snow and ice. I will be going for a 20-30 minute ruck (basically walking with weight on my back) four times per week. Location isn't really important. I should be able to adapt, whether it's a ruck through the woods or simply through the neighborhood. Also, like with the last challenge, any XC skiing I am able to do will count as a ruck. This will happen at least once per week, as I am now volunteering as an assistant coach with the local youth ski league on Sundays. So really, it's just a matter of getting in three rucks/skis in during the rest of the week. +5 StaGoal 2 - Primal Awareness: To survive, a Barbarian needs to be in tune with what is happening around him. To further develop awareness, I will continue daily meditation. This time around, I intend to get back to meditating for at least 12 minutes at a time. I don't have to start out with this, but by the last week of the challenge I intend to be meditating for 12 minutes (or more) daily. +3 Wis, +2 ConGoal 3 - THOR's HAMMER: It wouldn't be a Barbarian challenge without bringing back the hammer! Like last time, I will complete three sledgehammer workouts per week. My current routine takes about ten minutes to complete. Since I am regaining lost momentum after the holidays, my goal here is to simply maintain this level of intensity for the duration of the challenge. Increases in sets/reps/intervals can wait until the next challenge. +3 Str, +2 ConGoal 3 Update (as of 1/17/2016): Ok, so I was wrong. It still can be a barbarian challenge without the hammer. With the extreme focus I've been putting on daily meditation and early morning rucking 5x per week, the hammer has fallen by the wayside. So I won't get my strength and constitution bonus off this one, but nor will I have it count against me as far as whether I level up or not. The positive changes I've been making as a result of Goal 1 and Goal 2 more than make up for letting Goal 3 slide.Goal 4 (NEW as of 1/17/2016): In my never ending quest to find new and obscure interests, I have done some research and finally constructed a sling! Goal 4 isn't so much a deliberate SMART goal as I generally try to stick to. It is just a bonus quest of a sort, to simply keep moving forward in this new interest, whether that means crafting slings, practicing with them, or simply reading more information about them. Expect slinging to make an appearance in my next proper challenge as a full-fledged goal. I will perhaps award myself +1 Dex and +1 Wis, depending on how much I accomplish it the last two weeks of this challenge (but no more than this, as I am starting halfway through).In conclusion...METALZ : Onward to greatness!

This is still my over-riding goal. Top ten in the Wausau 24 - 6 hour category. In 27 years of racing I've never podiumed. I've been close, but I've never made it. Last year Wausua podiumed 10 people; I was 19th after a year of lackluster training. This is going to be my year. (Not me.) I have a busy, full summer of mountain bike racing planned. In order to do well, or even just survive it, I'll need to have a deep base of fitness. I'm putting in the work now, slow and steady style. A little bit every day will serve me better than big bouts of training followed by periods of sloth, which was my former habit. In order to do well at biking you need to bike. It's hard this time of year because I live in Minnesota. It's also hard to get riding in because my wife works evenings. I've tried doing GPP work over the winter with kettlebells and that works fine, but fine isn't going to cut it. Goal 1: Ride myself into shape. This will mostly, perhaps entirely, be on the trainer. Day 1: Intervals. Day 2: Slow and steady style. Day 3: Active Rest (Yoga). In order to keep biking I'll need a strong and sturdy body. I like, and have done well with, high frequency training. If one HFT program is good, two must be better. Both kettlebells and body weight training seems to make me more immune from injury. I'll be combining the Strength Aerobics variation of Simple and Sinister with PLP. Charles Bronson will be my spirit animal here. As an old man (50's) he got jacked in a lean and wiry way on a diet of push ups, pull ups, and plate push aways. Goal 2: Get jacked like Bronson 2a: Strength Aerobics variant of Simple & Sinister Day 1: 5 X 1/1 Turkish Get ups + 10 X 10 Kettlebell swings. Day 2: Long sets of singles of KB clean, press, & squat. Shovelglove may be substituted. Repeat until strong. 2b: PLP Day 1: Push Ups, one more than the day before. Lunges, one/one more than the day before. Pull Ups, one more than the day before. Repeat until jacked liked Bronson. Managing fatigue with two different training programs and riding might be a problem. The plan for both is to train every day, but I'll be playing this by ear. Minimal acceptable standard will be two days on, one day off. My old man back derails my training far more than I'd like (old injury). In order to keep it at bay I need to do a daily mobility circuit. I will add in a Yoga session every third day. Goal 3: Get Flexy Every day: mobility circuit Day 3: Yoga. My belly is trying to kill me. There is a list of foods that tears out my belly lining (dairy, coffee, sugar, deep fried anything, nuts and seeds). I've finally faced up to the fact that I just can't eat them at all anymore. I've been on a restricted diet for two weeks and it is going well. My belly hasn't felt this good in a year. Goal 4: Plate Push Aways. Don't eat the stuff I shouldn't eat.

Recap of my Adventure: I'm Teros the satyr. I've been here for almost 3 years. Growing up, I was treated like shit and bullied. Got into a relationship as a teenager which started of ok but after about a year, there were issues that gradually got worse and worse. Stayed with her for 12 solid years and it became an enmeshed toxic relationship. I always felt alone my entire life. Extremely socially awkward, had no confidence, and a therapist said that I was probably high-functioning autistic. I was terrified to do ANYTHING outside of my very limited comfort zone. I binged on junk food and played videogames my whole life; wishing that I could be someone else. That 'else' became my gamertag - Teros. It was my ideal. Teros would do this. Teros wouldn't let that stop him. If I could just be like Teros and do ____. I ballooned up to 360 pounds, when my doctor said I should be 220. It got worse with my ex, as she was an enabler and sabotaged me. I lived a depressed and angry life for over 25 years. Then I found NF. Once I did a couple of challenges, I found my groove and found my people. I started working out with a sledgehammer and I identified with it. I started doing pushups as well wall-ups because I was too overweight to do regular pushups. I got more traction and built a homegym: My issue was always a mental one. I could be strong and I could work out. I wasn't afraid of pain and pushing myself. I kept trying and failing though - misdirection in media paired with lack of confidence and dealing with massive waves of anxiety and depression - I became desperate. Once people on here started believing in me, everything changed. I'm a visual person, so I decided to print out a ton of encouraging comments and created my wall of positivity: I also made an RPG character (which NF is about 2 years late to start implementing...) I was losing weight and it was in spite of my g/f at the time. I did a few whole 30s and kept dropping lbs. I was getting stronger. I upgraded my 10lb sledgehammer into a 20lb 'Warhammer', built the above homegym, progressed to incline pushups and then regular pushups. Then I tried a Spartan. The write up of it: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/51002-teros-x-spartan/?p=1166122 I gave it .....everything. After that, there was a swell of support for the next one in a few months later. I was terrified and didn't want to do it but I signed up anyway. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/55919-teros-xii-redemption/?p=1287162 (I'm the one that looks like Hagrid crossed with grumpy cat with glasses on the far left) That experience at Fenway made me realize something that had been eating away at me for years - I wasn't happy. What made me happy was when I was here. Unless I was with You. All of You. My relationship with my g/f was horrible. I never felt cared about or loved. Never felt like I mattered. Never felt like I was a priority. I had to make progress by fighting her most of the time. Being around people that made me feel like I felt that weekend.... I can't explain it. Words don't describe it. Everyone's lives took a drastic turn because of that experience. I was at a tipping point - for almost 2 years, I had been slowly becoming that person that I looked up to. The person that I wished I could be. I felt completely divided. 50% Mike and 50% Teros. That spartan race and being with people that made me feel alive and loved... it pushed me past the 50% mark. I knew what I had to do: I ended my 12 year toxic relationship. The following 9 months were a fucking disaster. She lived with me and it was a nightmare waiting for her to move out. So many emotions were churning. Everything was raw and painful to talk about and deal with. I pushed her out and made her stop making excuses. I helped her get a car, tried to help her learn how to drive (at 30...), gave her supplies she needed, etc. While this is happening (as in, while broken up), I start falling for a girl that I was friends with. I was scared about what I'm supposed to do about any of this. In the end, she 'agonizes' over the decision and cuts ties while still flip-flopping about things. I truly felt she was someone special. However, I think she was emotionally walled off and didn't give me a real chance, opting the 'safe' choice. After my g/f-now-ex has finally moved out, we had a few more fights. We had said that once things settle down, we were going to stay friends and try again; and we weren't going to go dating anyone. Give each other an 'adult chance'. Despite, in all honesty, me not thinking there was a goddamn thing that I did wrong in the relationship (Oh wow, love yourself and do something besides hate everyone and watch tv, and maybe snuggle with me - what a demanding slave driver I am...) I figured if she grew up, we could try again as 'new' people.... Then she goes onto a dating website and dates a guy while simultaneously fucking a manager at her new store she works at. It was like the entire relationship with her was a fat sack of shit where I felt like I was nothing to her. Her running off within DAYS of moving out was like the cherry on top of a raw shit sundae. Nail in the coffin - she obviously doesn't give a single fuck about me or the concept of 'us'. By August 2015, with my ex mostly out of the picture, and the girl that I admitted that I loved shooting me down; I had to do something that was eating away at me since the spartan race back in November. I had to purge. I wrote my entire life story and purged emotionally. Then I purged physically. 17 empty containers out of 19 which held my entire life... ...gone. This was the start of Project Phoenix and it is what I continue with today. I rebuilt the 'southeast corner' of my Satyr cave: Before: VS After: + Project Phoenix is a 3-6+ long challenge setup to kill off what remains of my old self. I hate my old self. Weak. Scared. Self-pitying. Anxious. Angry. Frustrated. Treated like shit. Made to feel worthless. Unloved. I started it with Satyr Begins. Then The Dark Satyr. Now, The Dark Satyr Rises. I Deserve Better. I Will Make Better. Because I Am Better. There are a ridiculous amount of parallels between myself and the Batman archetype. As I thought what I wanted to do over the next year, I realized that this Project was my future waiting for me. I need to be strong enough to take it - to build it. Last challenge, the Project started: Satyr Begins. The Project in it's entirety: Step #1) Purge: -Purge all negative emotions by telling my story. -Purge all possessions by razing 30 year's worth of memories to the ground. (Burn Wayne Manor) Step #2) Satyr-Cave: -Clean the entire cave (Southeast corner) -Prime/Paint Satyr-cave -Get new flooring -Building Project #1 Bookshelf -Building Project #2 Kitchen table -Building Project #3 ****** -Building Project #4 ****** Step #3) New Look: (Become a symbol) -Face fear of cut hair/beard after 3 years/9 months -Face fear of getting piercing -Face fear of getting tattoo -Face fear of getting hair procedure done -Replace the old NF Symbol -New wardrobe Step #4) Schedule: (The will to Act) -Create a week schedule for the following: -Master's Program homework -Master's Program classes -Socializing -Exercise -Work -Decide on secret Batman lessons Step #5) Train (Ongoing): -Whole 30 -Daily walks(or)bleachers / body-weights -Sledgehammer workouts -****Unlocked after Building Project #3 -****Unlocked after Building Project #4 & -Batman Lessons Step #6) Become the Dark Satyr (cryptic on purpose): -Satyr Suit Defense -Satyr Suit Offense -'Wayne' Lessons -Siren's Call -Facing the Past that never was -Defining who I am Forever This challenge I will be working on completing Step #2, Step #3, and continuing step #5. Whole 30 started. Went for a 2+ mile walk the past couple of days. I'll be doing some sledgehammer workout tomorrow after work most likely. Once the other 2 options are ....'unlocked', I will reevaluate. For now, it is daily walks and 3x for some bodyweights, total gym reps, and sledgehammering. This entire time in my life has been Dark Souls difficulty. In the past two years I have lost 80 pounds, beat a spartan race, went from never being able to do wall push-ups, to being able to do 50 wide-grip regular push-ups, went from swinging a 10 lb sledgehammer for a couple minutes and being a sweating mess - to instead wielding a 20 pound sledgehammer for hundreds of reps (and 20lb is too heavy to even sell in hardware stores.), I built an entire homegym - consisting of kettelbells, sandbags, 250lb tractor tire, and some custom 50lb dumbbells, I wrote two years worth of story for an accountability RPG-based group, and I am here with people that I would consider my family, I've broken out of my shell and can talk to people instead of being an Asperger stuttering mess, became a guild leader, have traveled outside of my comfort zone (trains, first time on a plane, went to different states, and even drove to different states - I used to travel within a 5 mile RADIUS), tried new foods, met people from all walks of life, I've shared with people inner secrets, I ended a 12-year toxic enmeshed relationship, took a gamble on love and was crushed but bounced back, got accepted into the Master's program for social work, burned everything that I owned to the ground in a massive bonfire, and have been rebuilding my satyr-cave from scratch. I created this symbol a while back to represent the Dark Satyr. Horns for a satyr and the chin braid bottom point at the bottom. Red background to represent the flames from burning everything. The Dark Satyr Rises

Maintenance is the hardest part. I've got ~10lbs to re-lose; I want to increase my muscle mass and decrease my body fat percentage. If I don't succeed in losing any size/weight this challenge, I will have to start counting calories again, and I really don 't want to do that. Things: Activity (bodyweight workout + sledgehammer, cycling, swimming, etc) (4x per week) Stretching (4x per week) No S diet (no snacks 5x per week) Sleep by midnight (5x per week)Again I will keep my daily hits and misses to my battle log, and use this thread for general "how am I doing/feeling" updates, as well as cool things and thoughts. Fair warning: I am queer, agender, poly, and kinky. I will warn you if any content or links I share is NSFW, and put questionable stuff behind a cut.

For this challenge I'm going back to basics, back to the most effective program I've tried. To be honest, I believe it's effective for me only because I've followed it consistently, whereas anything else I've tried has been hampered by exercise ADHD and a lack of follow through. Here's the program: On Monday, I'll do this On Tuesday I'll do this On Wednesday I'll do this On Thursday I'll do this On Friday I'll do this On the weekends I'll do this In other words I'll also do some of this And this Or this

July 30, 2016. Wausau 24 Mountain Bike Race - 6 hour category. Goal: Top Ten. This is not me. This has never been me. I've done a lot of bike races in the last 27 years. Literally hundreds. I've never podiumed. Never won a prize. Last year at Wausau 24 I went out hard, but I never really pushed it. I was riding for fun, for the challenge. Had I pushed it a little harder, I could have ridden another lap and that would have put me in the top ten and the race podiumed and gave a nice prize bag to the top 10. This year I am going out hard. This year I'll be prepared. GPP: This time of year I have little time to actually ride a bike. This challenge will be the General Physical Preperation phase. I'll use sledgehammers, kettlebells, and maybe sandbags to get a little stronger and build a little endurance. The goal is to train five times a week doing a circuit of KB swings, Shovelglove, and racked lunges. I'd also like to add in sandbag clean/squat/press a couple of times a week. Aerobic Base: I'll maintain my aerobic base with tire pulling, rucking, and, when the stars align, a little biking. Mobility: My hips are the key to a better life. They're too tight, that leads to my back going out (keeping me from training), prevents me from pedaling efficiently, and impairs my bike handling. If I'm serious about this race, I need to be serious about my hips. I'll gladly take suggestions here - my hip flexors and psoas need to relax. Hara hachi bu: If my weight goes above 175# I get sluggish and slow. If it drops below 165# I get weak. I have a few dietary restrictions due to my bad belly and formerly high blood pressure. Trying to eat cleaner or to restrict calories feels like too much deprivation and I can't sustain it. The first part of last challenge I had good results with hara hachi bu, which means eat until you are 80% full. I usually went to 90%, but being mindful kept me from over eating. This Old House: Our house has a honey-do list that is several pages long. It's time to start ticking some of these off.

And so begins my next challenge, The Path of the Barbarian! This is not only a way to get fit and stay fit, but a way to connect with the great outdoors, regardless of weather conditions. Because a Barbarian does not shrink from a little cold and a few snowflakes! I'll be drawing heavily on many barbarian-esque influences to flavor this challenge. This includes historical barbarians (Gauls and other Iron Age Celts, Germanic tribes, Vikings), as well as fantasy-inspired barbarians (Conan, D&D, etc). I will also top it off with plenty of folk/viking/pagan heavy metal! On to the challenge itself: Goal 1 - Barbarian Mobility: This is the primary focus of the challenge. A true Barbarian should be able to traverse all kinds of terrain, even while carrying a heavy load, even over snow and ice. I will be going for a 20-30 minute ruck (basically walking with weight on my back) 4 times per week. Location isn't really important. I should be able to adapt, whether it's a ruck through the woods or simply through the neighborhood. As winter starts to set in (as it undoubtedly will within the next month) and groomed ski trails become available, I will start substituting crossing country skiing (or XC skiing) for rucking. XC skiing has become a real passion of mine of the last couple of years. Either way, snow or not, I will get outside 4 times per week and put some miles/kilometers behind me.Goal 2 - Primal Awareness: To survive, a Barbarian needs to be in tune with what is happening around him. The goal here is simply to meditate every day, for at least 8 minutes, to keep improving mindfulness and awareness. In addition to meditation, I will also make a daily list of tasks/priorities to complete (in the morning or immediately after work), and make sure I get to bed no later than 11:00 PM. Also for this challenge, NO VIDEO GAMES! Video games are bad for me. After all, a Barbarian should have a strong sense of what his priorities are, and be well rested, in order to be effective and strong. Barbarians don't play video games anyway. Clumsy fingers. Goal 3 - Hold the Heathen Hammer High!: A Barbarian must be strong and able to wield his weapon! For this goal I will complete a sledgehammer workout 3 timers per week. Part of the inspiration for this goal comes from here. The rest comes from the likes of Thor and Wulfgar. I may at times replace or augment this workout with bodyweight exercises (pull-ups, push-ups, squats) and training with a nunchaku. Part of the reason for this is that as I write this, I don't actually possess a sledgehammer. I hope to obtain one by the end of the weekend. But if I don't, and have to order one (I want a very specific size), I want to at least be able to do something in the meantime. Conventional strength and endurance training through body weight exercises will fit the bill. As will some time spinning my nunchaku. I have developed quite an affinity with the nunchaku, as I have re-learned how to relax my muscles when using it. Many aches and pains, especially in my back, have subsided since I started the practice, so I expect that even once I get into the full swing of sledgehammer training (hah, nice pun), I plan to keep up training with the nunchaku.

The first part of the challenge I am off on an adventure. We are going to see the California Redwoods, and Crater Lake. Nearly half of the remaining old growth trees are in the Redwood forest, they can live to be over 2,000 years old and over 375 feet tall. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, this beautiful clear blue lake was created by volcanic activity and is surrounded by 2,000 foot high cliff. We are going to spend time hiking,geocaching and enjoying all the beauty. When I made my Epic Quest List , I included these because even though they are within driving distance, I have never seen them (I think we stopped by the Redwoods when I was little, but all I remember was the statue of Paul Bunyan) I've been trying to think of my challenge, but truth is, my brain is on my trip. So consider this a prelude to my challenge. I'll finalize it more when I return. Tenacity Game: I will still be working toward my Simple and Sinister goals, but I think I will keep it to 3 days a week so I have time for sledgehammer stuff, and outdoor play, and some handbalancing stuff, and rings, Videos;Didn't make the pull up video of my TGU or pullups so that still needs to happen, and now that I have a way to do better videos. I need to make more swing videos. And I think it would be fun to have some videos of me doing outdoor stuff so maybe that too Tracking Food: going to focus on this challenge on losing weight, not wanting to think about that now though, cause vacation. But on returning home I will have the plan

Maintenance is the hardest part. I've got 10lbs to re-lose; I want to increase my muscle mass and decrease my body fat percentage. Last challenge I struggled with doing both a workout plus stretching, so this challenge I really want to make sure I get them both done. I'm switching my "self care" goal with a specific sleep goal, to focus on getting more sleep so that I can be healthier. Things: Activity (bodyweight workout + sledgehammer, cycling, swimming, etc) (5x per week) Stretching (5x per week) No S diet (no snacks 5x per week) Sleep by midnight (5x per week)Bonus quest: pick up my ukulele and start practising again (1x per week?) Again I will keep my daily hits and misses to my battle log, and use this thread for general "how am I doing/feeling" updates, as well as cool things and thoughts. Fair warning: I am queer, agender, poly, and kinky. I will warn you if any content or links I share is NSFW, and put questionable stuff behind a cut.

I've been doing this for more than a year now, and I saw great improvements last year. Then I hit the inevitable plateau and started backsliding. I want my body to be strong, flexible, and able to do things like pushups, pullups, and handstands. I want to be leaner. I can make it happen! Things: No S diet (no snacks 5x per week) Stretching (5x per week) Cycling or bodyweight + sledgehammer (5x per week) Self care (5x per week)#4 is something I've needed to do for a while. If you've been following me for a little while, you may know that I get a laughably small amount of sleep most days. I'm also incredibly stressed, though I try and ignore it most of the time. BONUS QUEST: Finish the papercraft cake I'm making for my sister's wedding!

Unchallenge time! I'm in a good groove with food and activity. I'm sticking with the No S-Diet, swinging my sledgehammer regularly, and doing bodyweight workouts. I'm hooping, swimming on a nearly regular basis (not laps, but not just messing around, either), walking home from the subway again now that the weather is lovely, and have been starting to lift weights thanks to a handy curbside find and encouragement from a big muscly friend. I'm doing rope on a pretty regular basis as a bottom, and am seeing progress in my stretches and balancing. I'm trying some new stuff to generate some extra income in addition to my day job. I'm too busy to add anything else, and between all of that plus a full-time job, being a parent, and a very, very full social schedule, any extras tend to fall off! So this is an unchallenge. I'll keep up with my battle log (World Conquest) for the daily updates, and will use this thread for general updates in regards to how things are going. If something shiny catches my eyes, I will give it a try and post here about how it went. Things I'd like to try: Climbing/boulderingParkourPoleAerial yogaPartner yogaCool new yoga posesTo see how many burpees I can do in a day/week Things I'm likely to be doing: Playing outside with my kidsPhotographyModellingRope!UKULELE ... MAYBE???Painting my house??Getting a bike and starting to bike to work in MayGardening LET'S DO THIS! Fair warning: I am queer, agender, poly, and kinky. I will warn you if any content or links I share is NSFW, and put questionable stuff behind a cut.