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Hi folks, My Main Quest is to become more fit; which is to say I want to: Lose 3.5 inches from my waist at the end of 6 weeksWalk at least 75,000 steps each week (I have a Fitbit which tracks for me)Bike 30+ minutes three times per weekThe reason why I I want to become more fit/active, in short, is because I miss it a lot. I played a lot of sports until the end of high school where I was hit with a chronic illness that made life really tough. Once the illness absolved itself some, I developed severe osteoarthritis, which resulted in 3 major surgeries in 3.5 years. Now that I'm "recovered" from the most-recent surgery (a total wrist fusion in November) I want to start doing at least some of the stuff I used to. I also know that I need physical activity as part of my well-being: I'm working on my PhD exercise helps me sleep better and contributes to stress relief. But there is the caveat: even though I'm "healed" and the surgery was considered a success, I'm still in some level of pain all the time. Some days are worse than others ( = I need narcotics to "function"), but there are days when doing "normal" everyday adult things are really tough: as much as I want to do things my body cannot. I am what you call a spoonie. There are also a lot of activities I cannot do because either it requires wrist movement (lots of yoga and body weight exercises) or my wrist/arm needs to bear weight (which causes pain). I have a follow-up with my surgeon in early May to figure out my "next steps," but I am still figuring out what I can and cannot do, which changes on a day-to-day basis (weather/pressure changes impact my pain levels, as does my activities in the previous days, the amount of sleep I get, and things I'm still figuring out). Despite the caveat, I want to be healthier, and I want to survive grad school. I'm just not sure how much I will be able to accomplish. Thus, the motivation for my second challenge, is that every day is a fight. I will calculate how well I did (or didn't) at the end of each week, and post the result on Sunday. Beginning Stats: Weight: 179.8lbs Waist: 38 inches Week of April 6-13 I walked 86,477 steps Week of April 6-13 I biked 0 times (I was moving places...and yeah). I wanted to add as well that my Life Quest is to be done my conference paper (being presented on June 1) by May 25th. I want an initial draft written by April 27th, a second draft written by May 11th and then the last draft by the 25th.

In truth, I started my quest on July 9th, 2014. However, since I wasn't sure if I was ready to stick to it, I've kept this information as my computer background up until now. I've been bedridden for the past year because of major joint deterioration due to very active RA. I want to get a hold of my health again. I want to not be afraid to risk taking a job in fear of not being able to pull my weight because of my illness. I don't want this disease to define who I am, because for a while, it has. Measurements: Starting weight: 245lbs Current weight: 230 -> 225 -> 220 Height: 5'9.5" Fat Percentage: 48.5% Muscle Percentage: ? neck:15" bust: 46.5" waist: 42" waist in corset: 39" stomach: 50" hips: 49" wrist: 7" calf: 19.5" upper thigh: 28.5" lower/mid thigh: 22" forearm: 11.5" upper-arm: 15.5" Main Quest: Medical Remission of Rheumatoid Arthritis Side quest: Lose 65 lbs (200lbs by my Birthday December 27th). October 2, 2014: Showing signs of medical remission, under doctor's watch and am beginning to taper off the strongest of medications. Lowering dosage by .1 ml every three months unless told otherwise. *DANCEDANCE* Quest 1: Do something productive every day. AKA. Fight a boss a week. WEEK THREE Productivity! Goal: CLEAN 50% of bedroom : From the bed... to the door! .......until my toes can touch the floor. 1. trash stuff 2. deal with laundry 3. organize stuff (sort through those boxes, yo). Quest 2: Nutritional overhaul. Edit: Adjusted my macronutrients so that I can actually hit my calorie goal. Protein: Between 80-90g Carbs: Between 100-120g Fat: Less than 40g Protein: Between 100g and 130g Carbs: Between 100g and 130g (lee-way for carb-rich veggies and fruits) Fat: Between 50g and 70g fat Sugar: Up to 50g of sugar (under 25g for non-fructose derived) Eat more whole foods, not processed. Quest 3: Exercise at least 3 days out of the week. This accounts for any sort of focused exercise; squats, leg lifts, the BBW workout, or sessions at the gym (among others). WEEK ONE WEEK TWO WEEK THREE WEEK FOUR WEEK FIVE WEEK SIX