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Since Spring is on its way in and the weather is getting warmer, I feel it is time to get back in touch with my love of nature and the outdoors without neglecting my current goals and the progress I have made so far. The first thing you may have noticed is the name change. Two reasons for this: I am WolfDreamer at most of my social media, and because spring is a season of growth and rebirth, I felt this challenge needed to be about transformation. Not total transformation, but enough to bring new life and energy, to be healed from the drag of winter, to breathe in change and breathe out pain, to reach towards the sky while rooting deeply into the earth, to grow. The name WolfDreamer has an origin, which I plan to share on here in a later post. This also means my goals might not stay consistent since transformation is also about change. I need to be willing to me gracious when goals aren't working out and make changes towards newer or modified goals. But there are a few things I can guarantee: this challenge will be an amalgamation of things that inspire me and bring me joy: music, art, literature, nature, wildlife, movement, faith, poetry, and lots of quotes from people who inspire me. However, in the interest of giving myself some structure, here are a few tangible goals to start the challenge off: wake up at 0430-0445 M-F (20 points total) say the Lord's Prayer out loud every day (28 points total) listen to or read a daily devotional/meditation/prayer (28 points total) do some kind of vigorous movement every morning to wake my body up (28 points total) complete at least one Wim Hof Method breath rotation, exercise, and cold shower every day (28 points total) get at least 30 minutes daily outside in nature (barefoot if possible). (28 points total) eat intuitively and mindfully (28 points total) walk at least 12,000 steps/day (28 points total) run at least three days/week; this can include sprints (12 points total) read for at least 20 minutes every day (in this instance, audiobooks do not count; it is about sitting still and focusing on one thing for at least 20 minutes). (28 points total) continue working toward Masters degree And that about does it for now. Hope you'll follow along; I feel so much stronger when friends come along on the adventure.

Spring is in the air, we have peach blossoms and some signs of life in the garden. Last challenge were a bust, I had a weak start and then things collapsed completely after I got a phone call that messed up my mind. I hate telephones. So, as part of a very grand scheme of not leaving life as a result of suicide, the following three little things. 1. Go to bed at ten, get up at five. Getting up early in the morning is good for me. It is the only time I can be alone, and it does my soul good. The extra time in the morning will also give me a chance to get important things done, if I want to. 2. Finish things. I am an expert at starting new projects, and I have piles of unfinished ones. I have an outing the first week of September and I need to have some things ready to sell, so it is time to get it finished. 3. Be Mindful I have lots of things to be grateful about, but my brain likes to stew in hatred. I know all the ways to get it to stop, but it is difficult to remember in the darkness. Every time I catch myself going to the dark side, do some push-ups to get myself in the moment. Keep up to date with the challenge forums. I do get a lot of support, and I appreciate it, and I have to give back. And meditation. Remember the meditation.

As many of you know, I'm in the middle of a mindset shift, and my last challenges have been all about changing my perspective. This work has had great rewards, and I think there's yet more to be done, so this challenge I will focus on developing more self-awareness and self-acceptance. MINDSET SHIFT GOAL Weeks 0 and 1 These weeks will be entirely focused on the "my why" goal. I've been trying to work on this these last 2 challenges but somehow it didn't work. I'll retake some affirmations I wrote in my willpower thread, and, maybe after re-writing them or polishing them a bit, will take the effort of copying them everyday. It sounds silly but I know it works. I will copy them, by hand, and I will repeat them to myself in loud voice to help ingrain them. Weeks 2 to 4 Self-awareness. I have a meditation routine now, and I would like to go up from 10 to 15 then 20 minutes a day. To help with physical awareness, will also work with Feldenkrais exercises which work pretty well for me. Self-acceptance: inner acceptance leads to outer control of our actions. I'll focus on describing what I need, or feel I need, instead of criticizing myself; I'll examine and accept my feelings, thoughts, emotions and wishes; I'll keep my exercises for anxious thoughts and cravings. WELCOME SPRING GOAL Look at those sunny days! Swifts will come soon, and cold nights will be over: it's time to get out of the house. So, big YES to outside activities: do you want to read? Go to the park and read on a bench. Do you want to do some push-ups? Do them in the country while you're on a walk. Are you going to do an IS workout? Try it in the patio! SIDE MINI-GOALS · Willpower developing activity: 15 minutes of cleaning/decluttering everyday. · Track what I eat. Something is happening with my diet and I'd like to fix it before it is too late. Extra points if I manage to prepare a fermented vegetable each week. · I'll try to "forget" my wallet at home when going to work to avoid temptations in the evening. Points Mindset shift goal WIS 3 points (my why 1, self-awareness 1, acceptance 1) Welcome spring goal STR 2 point DEX 1 point STA 2 point Side goals CON 1 point (track eating) CHA 1 point (cleaning)

My ultimate goal is to fit comfortably into UK size 14 trousers. To do that, I need to drop a dress size and I want to do this by losing fat. I feel like I've got a good grip on workouts and food / diet so this challenge is about creating new routines and adding another level of automation into my daily life. Being more active outside of workout sessions and looking after my body are my main focus areas for this challenge. 1. Activity! STA+2 CON+2 Be active outside of workout sessions. Minimum is walking for 10 minutes per day. This is continuing from my previous challenge but is being made more difficult by a higher target. A = 30 or more active days B = 26-29 active days C = 22-25 active days F = 21 active days or fewer. 2. Spring clean! DEX+1 CHA+2 WIS+1 The start of spring is approaching and my body is beginning to show signs of winter wear and tear. I have made a list of activities I need to do to look after my body, and I have attributed points to those activities depending on how difficult (how likely I am to do them) they are. A = 100 points or more B = 75-99 points C = 50-74 points F = 49 points or fewer. 3. Floss! CON+2 CHA+2 I'm treating this like a 30-day hard hat challenge for the whole of the 6 weeks. Fairly simple, I want to automate my flossing routine, put floss everywhere and make sure to floss daily. Pass = Never miss 2 days in a row Fail = Miss 2 or more days in a row. 4. On your bike! DEX+1 CON+1 STA+1 I received a folding bike for Christmas and it's really easy to get out and about with it. I want to fit my bike in my car and take it to work with me. I hope to make a new activity out of bike riding and my initial aim is to ride my bike once per week. A = 5 bike rides or more B = 3 or 4 bike rides C = 1 or 2 bike rides F = No bike rides.

SO THERE I WAS. Late. It's how I roll. Hi! As is becoming depressingly common on these, my semi-regular fitness challenges, I realized that I had managed to slide back into some of my old, bad habits. I haven't lost any ground, weight-wise, but I sure-hell haven't gained any. Ground, I mean, not weight. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. My point is that I'm right on the edge of gaining weight through inactivity again, so it's time to kick myself in the butt. Last challenge cycle reminded me of the importance of coming here regularly, posting regularly, and keeping up with people and myself to make sure that I stuck with a plan. 1: Keep Track. That is, establish and maintain a daily Battle Log. This will include a diet log, because 2: Keep to the Diet That's right. Back on the Whole30, folks. There will be a spot of dairy from time to time, but outside of that I'm gonna do it. o.o 3: Keep Improving This will involve my current workouts, and in addition: a. 4 miles walked a week, minimum. None of this 1/2 mile a day stuff that I settled for in the last challenge, too. Whole mile or nothin'. b. Add kettlebells and squats back into my world. 4 times per week: 3 30-second KB swing sets, 30 reps of body weight squats. c. Now that it's thawed out, use that slosh pipe three times a week. That's a 50-yard circuit while walking, 3 reps. 4. Come back here every day. I know, that's sorta implied with challenge 1, but I want to be sure. It really helped me keep track of things during my last challenge. For those of you curious about how things are going with my lady, the answer is "remarkably well." She's sticking with her self-imposed diet, and we're walking together every chance that we get. For someone who was in surgery just a couple-three weeks ago, she sure isn't having any problems walking a half mile at a time. I'm proud of her and looking forward to helping her during her time of difficulty. Edit: Battle log established!

Hello dear people! During my challenge, your help and support and input is greatly valued, and even encouraged! There will be pictures, and there will be cake. Simple goals: 1. Log 200 to 400 points on fitocracy EVERY DAY. I will think of a way to grade this so I can motivate myself better, but basically, there is a high goal, and a low goal. I'm thinking of making the low goals the "thing I do because I decided to do", and the high one something I get to reward myself for. In the coming days, I think up a reward. Advice is welcome! 2. Learn how to do a bridge. In style. Nice-looking. Stand-to-stand maybe. Coming days, I look into a good route to get there. 3. Leisure time: I took some time off, because with what I earn while working, I think I better stop working and start reading for a while. Doing this now will also stop me from feeling rather sad in a month or so. Recreation is hard work: - At least 5 hikes - At least 11(!) books. There are some classics that have escaped me until now, so I'll make work of that. Expect a reading list. - Finish the three films I have started to watch ages ago and get back to the respective friends who recommended them to me. There will be no serious food related goal, because I will travel/move to new place twice during this challenge. I don't want to feel bad about something I cannot control. But: 4. Draw 5-7 different meals I made in the past month, in the same way I drew some recipes here: http://idiotdogcomics.wordpress.com/ Autocomplete/bonus quests: - I will have to learn more of the native tongue if I want to talk to the villagers. I expect this to sort itself out, since I'll be forced to do so. - I expect myself to consume less alcohol when I no longer live with pleasant-to-share-a-drink-with housemate. Which is good, maybe. Yeahhhhh Let's do thisssssssssssss.