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I sit at my desk surrounded by the remnants of the first binge of this year. Chinese food boxes and bags, forks, crumbs from a package of Combos, wrappers of food I stole from my roommate while she was asleep. My stomach hurts so bad that I consider skipping my afternoon class, but I know I won't actually skip it; if I did, I'd be confronted with the idea that eating this way is actually affecting my life. But I look around at the mess on my desk and I can already see that truth plainly. I look to the left at my familiar appearance in the mirror: tousled brown hair, green eyes behind big brown frames, headphones and an oversize teeshirt. I look the same as I did before I ate this food, but I know I'm not. I know I have ruined a month of success. I know I need to change. This is my first ever 4 week challenge on the forums. I'm hitting the metaphorical start button on my health goals. As was suggested, I made three health goals and one non-health goal. 1. Actually win the DietBet I am playing (by reaching 188.5 lbs by March 6) (+1 WIL) Stay at a 1,000 calorie deficit (or more) every day Make sure to recover from any mistakes by exiting every week with a 7,000 calorie deficit (or more) 2. Work out at least five times per week (+1 DEX) Go to the gym first thing in the morning on weekdays Exercise even on weekends 3. Drink at least 100 oz of water each day for the majority of challenge days (+1 CON) Carry my 20 oz water bottle everywhere I go Order water instead of diet pop at restaurants 4. Save money by reducing spending (+1 WIL) Don't order food for delivery Take advantage of my job perks by eating my one "free" meal at work (Pita Pit) Wish me luck! I know I have this in me.

Pluses from last challenge: No-spend September - I spent approx half of what I did during August Downsides: even with these cut-backs I was spending more than what I should budget for ==> Optimisation required Minuses from last challenge: TV habit has spiralled out of control I am crashing asleep on the sofa/after putting baby to bed I have put on about 6 lbs since starting my new job 4 weeks ago This challenge's plan: Identify where I have been tripping up Work out how to stem the tide Work out any steps to reverse the trend Implement as appropriate Monitor Areas to tackle: Sleep (need more) Sugar (blood sugar levels over the day) Spending (financial + time) And the fourth area I want to devote my challenge to: Son - coming up with plans for better: meals, evening time together, weekend time together

DAO Spoilers We saved the circle, big sigh of relief. I know Morrigan is not happy we saved it but we have our first allies! Wynne, the mage who helped us in the tower, has decided that life in the circle is not for her anymore and wishes to travel with us. Wynne’s alright and we can always use another to fight the darkspawn but she’s sort of old so I worry about her. She has some mad skills with magic though so that will help. Wait what... Once back at camp, Alistair suggested we go to Redcliffe for support next. With Loghain spreading lies about the Grey Wardens, we will need a powerful noble ally. Alistair seems convinced that Arl Eamon will be that ally. Redcliffe Village PT 1 - Gaining allies #2 I swear everywhere we go something is wrong. This can not be a coincidence! Redcliffe seems to have a problem with waves of undead attacking them as the sun goes down. "Walking corpses? Do you think it's something in the water?" - Leliana. The villagers have not heard anything from the Castle and fear the worst. I don’t blame them. Being the helpful bunch my traveling companions and I are, we’ve decided to stay and help out. We also need to get into the castle and this seems to be the only way to do it. "These people don't deserve what has happened to them. We must get to the bottom of this." - Wynne Help Redcliffe Villagers : Not everyone can fight and those who can, don’t seem to have the weapons to do it. Redcliffe Village’s mayor, Murdock, has asked that we help get the villagers prepared for a long night of undead battles. We will need to get weapons for those who can fight & food for those hiding in the Chantry. Food Quest: More protein : over 50g of protein (5 out of 7 days = Collect 1 supply bundle of food per week) Life Quest : No credit card spending & make payments: Villagers can only be helped if I don’t use my credit card. For every credit card purchase, 1 villager doesn’t get helped. Villagers helped goal = 25 (weapons) Take back Redcliffe & get into the Castle (Each week will have a different focus): Exercise Quest: 2 Cardio & 3 BWW Getting to the Core of the problem: Exercise Quest: Plank progressions everyday Front Plank (On Elbows) Plank (Push Up position) Side Plank (Elbow/Knee position)

So this is my first challenge. The aftermath of Camp Nerd Fitness continues. About me: I like Star Wars and X-Men. I am a psychotherapist helping others with drug dependence and other issues. I am a married man. I have the best cat. This is where I would be out of control and either develop goals that are outside the scope of a 6 week challenge or that are too complicated for me to stick with -- so after some SMART goal reading here it goes: Quest 1: I am committing to attending 4 cross-fit WOD's per week for the 6 weeks. I enjoy my workouts when I am there but struggle with the motivation to get there in the first place. I will go 4 times during the work week. Quest 2: I will meditate for 20 minutes per day. I have been avoiding this for so long because I dont feel comfortable when I have tried it but like anything else worth doing: it takes practice. So this challenge is my way to get practice with being alone with myself. I can break up the 20 minutes per day any way that I want for a total of 20 mins per day. Initially I will do 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at work during lunch. I have a guided meditation for self-confidence that I will use throughout the 6 weeks. Quest 3: Initially, this quest was to lose 10 lbs over the course of the 6 weeks but that wont cut it for my SMART goals so here it is: I bring my lunch with me to work everyday of the 6 week challenge. I struggle the most with lunch as I work in a terrible area of DC with no healthy food choices. So...I will make my own. Life Quest: I have been dealing with my spending habits recently so to help, I will write down and journal every time that I spend money -- I need to be accountable (see what I did there?) to myself. Motivation: A lot of things that I want to do but never thought too much of myself as having the skill, intelligence or strength to do them. This is another step towards striking those negative ideas with a lightsaber. I also do not want to have a heart attack like my mom did. I want to stick around and kick some ass.