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Hello again. I took a break from the adventurers last challenge and adventurers over to the druids. But I found myself doing more wandering than meditating (or levitating.) So here I am. Back again. I'm not one for introductions, but your more than welcome to go through my past challenges/intros in my signature links below. For the next eight to ten-ish weeks I'll be working towards the end game in my ir quest. Graduating college. My goals will be more towards productivity that progress me towards walking the stage. The rest of this challenge will be me working towards finishing this semester. This one raps up a few weeks before finals start. I've got a few more assignments left before then and I want to see how quickly I can get them done before the next challenge starts. [Edit: I'm dropping all the app goals] Staying Hydrated - Drink 100oz per day (try not to kill your plant) Trekking the Distance - take 10,000 steps per day (discover new planets) Study Time- study 40hrs per week (perform 80 pomodoros) Staying Ahead - stay at least one week ahead of all assignments Distractions - limit time on computer and iphone to x hrs

I've been stalking Nerd Fitness since February, but I just signed up for an account. I've adopted a paleo lifestyle and have lost 15 lbs in two months. I've recently fallen off the paleo wagon, stopped excercising, stopped stretching, and stopped reading ... so I figured participating in this challenge would help set me straight again. I hope. I'm really good at talking myself out of everything. Ugh. I live in the mountains and I enjoy a wide array of activities, but I haven't created a habit yet. I want to prioritize excercising, but I find a million excuses to not move my ass. #shame Here are my goals. Fitness 1. Return to nirvana I used to practice at least once, if not twice, a week and I felt uhmazing. I'd like to return to that. My goal is to practice yoga twice a week. I'm currently into Ashtanga, but I want to practice sun salutations in the morning if I can't get to a class. I will measure my success by the strength of my headstand. Currently, I can barely get my feet in the air for a second. Grading: A = 10 second headstand B = 8 seconds C = 6 seconds D = 4 seconds F = 2 seconds 2. Miles in the saddle I recently bought a mountain bike and a road bike cause ... cause why not!? I need to train my butt to love that saddle so I can ride longer rides. My goal is to get out on a bike (road bike or mountain bike) at least three times a week. I'd like to get comfortable enough to ride 70 miles in one sitting. I currently get out once or twice a week at an average of 15 miles. My longest ride so far was 46 miles. This challenge will hopefully set the tone for me to participate in a century ride (100 miles) in September. A = 70 miles B = 65 miles C = 60 miles D = 55 miles F = 50 miles Nutrition 3. Cavewoman goodness I adopted a paleo diet in March and I've loved every minute. Couple of factors have led me astray and I'd like to return to eating a strict paleo diet for 6 days of the week. I'm a sucker for wine, so this should help me in limiting my wine consumption to one night! On average, I lost one pound a week on paleo. I'll measure the success of this goal in weight loss. I'd like to see myself at least 6 pounds lighter. A = 6 pounds down B = 5 pounds down C = 4 pounds down D = 3 pounds down F = 2 pounds down Personal 4. Use my vowels! I'm the publisher and editor of a local newspaper so I've lost the motivation to read at night (and just drink wine instead!) so this goal is to get me back to reading for pleasure on a daily basis. I can't tell you how many books I have sitting in my house with bookmarks in them. I have a tendency to start books and never finish them. With this goal, I hope to read for at least 30 minutes before bed every night. By reading 30 minutes a night, I should complete at least 2 (full) books and potentially any others that I started but never finished. A = 2 books B = 1.5 books C = 1 book D = Finish only one book I already started F = Start a book (or two) and don't finish them Bonus goals: In reading other people's goals, I wanted to adopt some as my own, bonus goals. 1. Get up! I suck at getting out of bed. As a bonus challenge, I'm going to try and not snooze Monday through Fridays. 2. Pump me up I'm interested in weight training, so I'm going to try to explore that part of the gym (scary!) Nothing extreme. Just even going and touching the weights will be a start. I'm going to try the beginnger's body workout thing on NF and see where it goes... ___________________________ Review of week one: Riding the bike: I wanted to ride my bike at least three days but only made it to two. I don't feel bad though because I did ride my bike on Sunday (the day before the official start of the Challenge) and I went camping/hiking and that took away time from riding (which I would have done if I wasn't in the middle of the woods). Miles in week one: 24.6 (32.8 if I include Sunday's ride before the challenge ... which doesn't count). Yoga: I was supposed to do yoga at least twice a week. I made it to one class and it made me so sore, I didn't do yoga the rest of the week. As I get stronger, I'll be able to do yoga more frequently without crying like a little girl. Headstand progress hasn't changed. Can kick my feet up but they don't stay up. Paleo: Definitely went off track this week in terms of eating strict paleo. I've already been on a paleo diet for a few months, but I was adding more and more non paleo items into my diet. Although I would say I'm definitely not as bad, I did slip a few times (PIE!). And of course the wine. I failed in trying to just drink once a week. Sadly, I think I drank wine (at least one glass) every night after Monday night. Damn birthdays, and visitors, and friends, and fun times. I might try to wean myself off the wine drinking in a less drastic way since obviously I can't handle just drinking once a week. Despite all of that, I did lose 1 pound this week. BOOM! Reading: Although I did not technically read 30 minutes EVERY night, I did read enough to get me through half of my book. My goal is to read 2 books by the end of the challenge and at this rate, I'm in good shape. Bonus goals: In addition to my above fitness goals, I did manage to get to the gym once this past week to explore weight lifting. I saw a personal trainer train some girls and after the session was over, I went over and asked her for the proper technique for dead lifts. She was happy to help and even gave an analogy I can relate to (using yoga!) so I started with some simple reps of 10. (I went again today (week 2) and I am very stoked on the progress already). Anti snooze: I think I snoozed once this week. I've been getting up early to ride and go to the gym with a friend, and that really helps not snooze. I really enjoy the mornings and all the working out has tired me out so I fall asleep better. I haven't taken melatonin once this week! It's amazing. In addition, I tried the step master for the first time last week and I enjoyed it so much that I do a 30 minute warm up before I start weight lifting. Who would have thought. Workout recap: June 3, Monday: None June 4, Tuesday: 10.4 miles cycling, 90 minutes of Ashtanga yoga (beast mode!) June 5, Wednesday: Stairmaster 30 min, weight training (deadlifts, rows, triceps, biceps) June 6, Thursday: None (too sore) June 7, Friday: 14.2 miles cycling June 8, Saturday: hiked 5.5 miles June 9, Sunday: Rest day ________________________________ Week two: Bike riding: Only logged 22 miles this week. Trip to LA kinda ruined riding over the weekend. Yoga: Didn't do an actual practice. I only did some practice at home to stretch out. Although I am getting stronger and more confident in my headstand. I don't hesitate in kicking my legs up and I can balance a little bit longer, which is exciting. Paleo: Hah! I went to a bridal shower and celebrated a belated birthday with my family over the weekend. Needless to say my sugar and alcohol consumption increased significantly. Weirdly enough, I dropped 2 pounds this week. Odd... Reading: I only ready once before bed. Oops. Not the best week for me. Here's to making week three better! Workout recap: June 10, Monday: 6.9 miles cycling (really windy, quit early) June 11, Tuesday: 30 minutes stair master, weight training (squats, deadlifts with 20lb barbell, bi's and tri's with 12 lbs, lunges, 5 pushups) June 12, Wednesday: 15.1 miles. Windy but I did it anyway. New route! June 13, Thursday: 30 minutes stair master, weight training (just arms. legs are sore, 12 lb weights, three sets of 10, 5 solid pushups) June 14, Friday: None (drove to LA) June 15, Saturday: None June 16, Sunday: None ________________________________ Week three: June 17, Monday: Evening hike after work, 4 miles with 1,100 feet of elevation gain. June 18, Tuesday: 90 minute Ashtanga practice. Worked on my headstand and got up to 5 seconds! June 19, Wednesday: 30 minute stairmaster, weight training (deadlifts, lunges, squats, shoulder presses, biceps) June 20, Thursday: Day off (hamstrings hurt too bad) Practiced headstands. Got to 10 seconds. BOOM. June 21, Friday: 30 minutes stairmaster, weight training (deadlifts, squats, shoulder presses, biceps) June 22, Saturday: 45 mile ride June 23, Sunday: 10 mile ride (up hill most of the time with a strong headwind) ________________________________ Week four: Week four was a total bust for me. I had some health issues that prevented me from getting on the bike, and then I went to a Bachelorette party which naturally derailed me from my eating/drinking goals. I also didn't read at all this week. June 24, Monday: Rest day, Juice fasted. June 25, Tuesday: None, Juice fasted June 26, Wednesday: Juice fasted, 30 minute stairmaster, weights June 27, Thursday: None, drove to LA June 28, Friday: None, drove to Moorpark, Solvang June 29, Saturday: Bachelorette Party June 30, Sunday: Bachelorette Party ________________________________ Week five July 1, Monday: July 2, Tuesday: July 3, Wednesday: July 4, Thursday: July 5, Friday: July 6, Saturday: July 7, Sunday: ________________________________ Week six: