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First off a little about me for any newbies to my challenges. I am a 34 year old clinical psychologist from Chicago who used to be a very athletic and very flexible rock climber, dancer, and fencer. Now, I am extremely sedentary and working on losing a significant amount of weight while exploring flexibility and movement as a fat person. I have really struggled to finish challenges and to make changes in my life because of a very stressful job and the pressures of managing both my own mental illness and my wife's. I can't seem to stop trying though, and I find this community tremendously welcoming and supportive. Come along with me while I write about shapeshifters and try to change my life! --,--'--@ Main Quest: reduce my body size by 4% a loss of 15.46 lbs. Goal 1: Whole30. My eating needs a re set in the worst way. In order to get back to eating in a healthy primal manner I will begin by completing a strict whole 30, tracking all the food I eat, and using Melissa Joulwan's amazing meal planning and cook up system, I adore her paleo cookbooks and her general way of handling food. Goal 2: Continue to improve flexibility and strength by integrating in at least one more yoga video from my list of beginner videos that make me nervous. I would like to work up to the Goal 3: In addition to my daily yoga for my back pain, I want to add walking to my program. I am so ridiculously sedentary, and I want to improve my cardiovascular health so that I can do more things. I am starting this off by taking a 10 minute walk every day. I would prefer this to be outside, but it can also be on the elliptical if its bad weather. Lifestyle Goal: I want to be more creative by writing more. I used to love writing and I still do love to imagine things. I just need to let go of the critical voices in my head. I plan to do 4 big story updates and at least 8 smaller updates over the course of the challenge. In addition, I will journal daily about my food journey, and once weekly using ACT.

Already time for the next challenge, woo! February is going to be an interesting month for me. I am going to Wicked Faire with some friends, and that's the 19th to the 21st. I want to look my best for the faire! Also, I have to wait until the 19th (Match Day) to know for sure if I got an internship for the next year. It looks good, but nothing is guaranteed and the suspense is killing me. My basic plan is to try an keep as busy as possible until the 19th, making progress on my dissertation, lifting, biking, trying to lose this persistent and annoying bit of belly fat I've accumulated, working through the ACT workbook, and pursuing my hobbies. I don't have specific goals in mind just yet, but I've been doing a good job making and mostly completing comprehensive to do lists every day. I'll update with specific goals when I figure that out. I'll also hopefully be continuing the saga of Sovellis, though I still need to wrap up the last challenge. Does anyone know how the leveling works now? For once I actually feel like I deserve to level up and would like to take care of that.

The holiday season had been fun, and true to form, Sovellis had thrown himself into the festivities. Now, sitting by the fire in the inn's common room, he tried to recover from the consequences of his actions. Despite having slept until the afternoon, he still only got about 5 hours of sleep and so felt drained. He sipped his mug of hot coffee. Little light filtered in through the windows from the dreary, cold, winter day. Perhaps he should just go back to bed. The front door opened, allowing a chill breeze to swirl amongst the tables. The man who entered was wrapped in a cloak, but the armor he wore was visible beneath. It was recognizably Badroni style, a sash indicating he was an official agent of the kingdom. Being so far from the kingdom where he had pledged his fealty so long ago, this was the last thing Sovellis was expecting. Scanning the room, the newcomer's eyes stopped when they reached the elf and he stepped right up, giving a little nod. "SuleSuthrie Niallo, yes?" "I am." "Hetman RefSuthrie commands your immediate return to Sejabird Hill," the messenger stated simply, handing a letter bearing the Hetman's offical seal to Sovellis. Sovellis nodded, taking the letter. "You can tell him I have recieved his summons and will return as soon as I can." The messenger, seemingly satisfied, offered one last short nod, turned, and walked back out into the wintery evening. Letting out a long breath, Sov leaned back in his seat and opened the letter. The contents revealed little more than what the messenger had said, but the very brevity of the note was interesting. Could the Hetman be concerned about the message being intercepted? What had been going on since he had left the kingdom of Badronis? He shut his eyes and sighed. He was far too tired to head out immediately. That would have to wait until tomorrow. "Time to step up and fulfill your duties, Sov," he mumbled to himself. <------<<< Alright, time for another challenge. Definitely over indulged over the break, which is no surprise. I really want to buckle down and start living my life the way I want to live it this challenge. This means not making excuses to not work out or to put off working on my school stuff. I will be combating my fears and anxiety head on, utilizing an ACT therapy workbook. I don't know exactly how I'll be tracking things this challenge, but a daily post updating about everything I did is required. Also, daily update of the bank. Goal 1: 1 hour minimum of school work a day Goal 2: Bike/lift on alternate days Goal 3: ACT workbook Goal 4: Adulting This is a bit rough still, and I plan to tweak things as I go. I just really wanted to get something posted today, no excuses, right? Time for me to grow up and do the things I need to do. Period. This is the path I chose, and whining about the rock in my shoe doesn't get me any closer to my destination. Rawr! As for today's update, my sleep schedule is so completely messed up that I'm doing a hard reset. This means I am not sleeping until tomorrow night. It'll suck, but I'm not going to let myself use this as an excuse. I've already done my duolingo, pulled feeders for the snakes, and tried changing my bike tire so I could finally put it on the trainer. Unfortunately, I ended up tearing the tire. Grumble. I'll take it to a shop and have them do it. That means I can't bike, so I'll lift tonight instead. I'll also work in the ACT book and do some interview prep (interview is on Friday). I will also pull runes, and if my brain allows it I will read a while as well.

Sovellis cast his eyes around at the destruction surrounding him. The murky, disease ridden flood waters had begun to recede, revealing the true cost of the disaster. Amid the battered and broken buildings, bodies emerged. Young, old, mothers, fathers, children, their skin darkened and mottled from injury and rot. The stench was overwhelming. Somewhere in the distance a fire raged, sending thick clouds of acrid smoke wafting through the remains of the town. He looked around in horror. This was his fault. He didn't know how he knew this, but he knew it to be true. It was him. Him and the shit choices he made. All had led to this loss. He couldn't breathe. His lungs burned. He began to panic. There was no fixing this, and it was all his fault... He fell unelegantly out of bed, waking in time to see the floor rapidly approaching his face. Instead of his usual slew of obscenities, he frantically scrambled to his feet, kicking a couple empty bottles across the floor, searching the darkness for the destruction that had surrounded him just moments before. In its place, all he saw was the familiar confines of his usual room at the inn. Shaking his head angrily, he tried to catch his breath. His bed clothes were soaked through and clammy with sweat and it looked like someone had tried to tie the blankets into a pretzel. "Just a dream. Another goddamn dream," he breathed to himself quietly. Prone to unpleasant dreams for as long as he could remember, their frequency and vividness had taken a decidedly ambitious step up in intensity as of late. He used to be able to block them out by drinking, but now they were breaking through even the deepest stupors. Just as he was starting to orient himself to reality again, there was a knock at the door. Grumbling, he stumbled through the dark to answer the summons. Opening the door unsurprisingly revealed the innkeeper, who looked as unhappy to be making this call as he was to receive it. "My lord, you know how I appreciate the aid you've offered this town, but there have been three complaints tonight alone of shouting coming from this room. I owe you as much gratitude as any, but I am running a business here, and people are starting to check out early. You understand," she explained as politely as she could, seeing the state he was in. Sovellis nodded tiredly and wiped his hand over his face. "I understand. I can head out tomorrow. Thank you for being so patient with me. Sorry for being such a problem." "Oh no problem at all, sir, and thank you for understanding." She turned to leave, then paused. "If you don't mind me saying so, my lord, I would ask you to take care of yourself and dispel whatever evil it is that haunts you so. You deserve to be happy, or at least content." She looked nervous, but breathed a sigh of relief when he offered her a nod and a smile of appreciation. Shutting the door he turned back to the mess of his bed. He needed rest but feared what awaited him in the realm of dreams. Each of his nightmares seemed to center around his fears of the slowly aggregating consequences of his innumerable and consistently poor choices. Just like so many times before, he knew something needed to change. Reluctantly he climbed back into the unpleasantly damp bed to try and sleep. "Ugh, I wish you were here, Ishu. You wouldn't stand for me making foolish choices, you never did. Why didn't I listen to you back then?" Closing his eyes, he clutched the pillow tightly, an anchor to the reality where it wasn't too late, where he could still change his fate by making better choices. Or at least that's what he hoped. <------<<< So I decided to join the druids this time around. Ultimately, I would like to stay a ranger, because I love running and weight lifting and doing warrior dash and all that stuff. The reality is that I need to take care of some seriously more fundamental health and self care issues first. I am in the final stages of earning my doctorate in clinical psychology, which means applying for internship and working on my dissertation. This is intensely stressful and I have not been coping well. I need to find a better balance, learn to be okay being alone, and figure out how to consistently make good choices about self care. Specifically, I am going to focus on reducing my alcohol intake. Again. I tried this last challenge, but I think the structure I tried didn't work well for me, so I'm going to try something a little different this time. Goal 1: Do one academic thing each day. Goal 2: Do one fitness thing each day (lifting, yoga, running, archery, even taking a long walk, anything really other than sitting on the couch will count for this). Goal 3: Do one healthy self care thing each day (shower, read, meditate, play a game, going to be exploring options for this to see what works for me). Goal 4: Alcohol reduction. Each day where I do not drink at all, I get to bank 2 drinks for later, which I can cash in at any time. This means that after one dry day, I have 2 drinks available. After 2 days it would be 4, and so on. I cannot earn any drinks without having at least one dry day. If I manage to stick to this, it will significantly reduce my weekly consumption. I think it stands a better chance of working because it is a reward system that leaves the power of choice in my hands, so I don't feel like I'm being deprived or punished.

"Sov, I think I am going about this all wrong. I have researched all I could and thought myself in spirals, but nothing is happening." She stood shifting from foot to foot, staring down at the table covered in crooked stacks of foolscap, dusty books, pinned scrolls, and spell paraphernalia. "I need to be *doing* things. I have come farthest with this curse when circumstances have pushed me into adventures." She smiled remembering olden days when circumstances were often named Sovellis. "Huh, I suppose that makes sense," he agreed, picking his head up off the table and rubbing his face. "So what do we do? Become sell swords and take a job or something? Or I suppose I could go insult a king and you could try to rescue me again, but that didn't work out so well last time." His lips twisted into a tired smirk. "Sweet gods, please no royalty! I was thinking more about taking a journey up into the fey wilds and seeing what we can find. Its possible some of the lines of the riddle are referring to places after all." His brows arched sharply at her words. "The fey wilds? Wait wait wait, so royalty is out, but fey are a-okay? Have you lost your mind? Besides, there's no good taverns in the fey wilds." He had managed to finish the wine he had brought back to the hut rather more quickly than he planned, and the thought of not being able to replenish his stock was unpleasant to say the least. "I can hardly go to a tavern as I am anyhow." She cocked an eyebrow and motioned to her giant proportions. "besides, you can easily do without wine- you can prestidigitate your water if you miss it. Wine and trails do not mix unless you are a construct like Flotsam. No one needs to walk for hours with a hangover." "Prestidigitation only flavors the water," he grumbled, but she had a point. "As to the rest..." She crossed the cabin to the wall where the words of her curse were etched. "I don't know how to master fey magic. The only way I know to break through this is to go to a place where the fey are and ask them. Besides, you never know what we might find up in those mountains!" She grinned at him, the light of avarice shining in her eyes. "Heh, yeah, or what might try to eat us." Despite arguing, he smiled, happy to see that spark in his friend's eye. "So you plan to find a fey something, walk up to it, and just ask it? I'll admit that approach has worked for us before, but not with fey." "Well there was that Eagle that time, but no, I was thinking more that we would search for some of the things mentioned in the riddle Halfling's pride, Balefire, the rooftop Feydance, all of these seem to refer to acts I have to do or people I have to best. "Rooftop feydance sounds fun. Baelfire not so much." The thought it over for a moment, then shrugged. "Alright, I would still prefer to have access to taverns, but might do me some good. When do you want to take off?" "I want to be in the highlands by the end of the ride. As you can see, we are mostly provisioned already." She motioned to shelves in the cooking alcove now filled with the trail bars and jerkey made from all Noor's hunting. "You've been busy, that's for sure," he nodded, looking at the shelves full of trail foods. "And we have the supplies I brought, what's left of them anyway, so we have healing potions and things, and my quiver is full. I guess we should get packed." <------<<< Time for the next chapter in the Sovellis Saga! This challenge my goals are very similar to the last. 1. Do something school related every day, even if it's just a tiny thing. 2. Do something physical fitness related every day, even if it's just a tiny thing. 3. Do something adultish every day, be it chores, bills, making a phone call, whatever. 4. Do something related to spirituality every day. But this time around, all of these are going to play second fiddle to this last point: 5. No alcohol. None. For 6 weeks. I've done this sort of thing before, if not for this length of time, and I think it's time to do it again. Complete sobriety is not my ultimate goal, but going dry periodically seems to help me keep better control over my drinking habits, which have been slipping as of late. Not looking forward to the ups and downs I know are coming, but it'll be alright. I'll be alright. Between this and it finally starting to cool off, maybe I'll finally be able to make it back to the range or go slack lining again!

Sovellis woke with a splitting headache. He felt woozy and disoriented. Looking around, he saw he was back in Noor's stone shack. How had he gotten there? Wasn't he just at the ruins of that tower? Despite feeling awful, at least he could feel that the fae beast's hold on him had been broken. Noor calmly chopped vegetables, layering them over chunks of rabbit meat to start a stew. She ached all over and her mind felt crisped, but it was over for now. The tower was free of beasts and she could finish her research and collapse it's haunted hall. Sovellis was freed for now. "What the hell happened...?" he croaked, his voice hoarse from disuse. How long had he been out? "You were almost taken by a faebeast in that blasted tower. Do you remember anything? Did you accidentally talk to it?" Noor crossed to him and handed him one ofher heavy mugs filled with strong smelling tea Taking the mug, he tried to remember. "Ishu, I talked to Ishu." He shook his head. "But that makes no sense, Ishu couldn't be there. I had to get out, but I couldn't." His memories were a confusing mess, and didn't seem to flit together cohesively. "AH. it stole an image from your mind and tricked you into speaking to it. There was too much magic in that place to be safe." She shuddered, glad that the creature was gone. He stared down into the steaming mug, slumping. "I'm sorry, I should have been stronger. I'm not being any help at all. Just putting both of us in greater danger." She placed one large gnarled hand on his shoulder. "Stop. You know how dangerous fae can be. That's why I waited fro there to be two of us to go back. Had it been just me, it could have taken me I would still be there in its clutches. He looked up at his old friend with a sad smile. "Thanks for saving my life. Again. Heh, my family should have paid you double." She laughed long and hard remembering. "Your family pays plenty well. You should send them a letter after this. Speaking with Ishu for real might do you well." Nodding and fiddling with his signet ring, he sniffed the tea, then took a cautious sip. It was surprisingly good, if rather pungent and strong. "Were you able to find out anything helpful at least?" "Well, I came close to sorting through all the magics and traced the curse to the fae's room. Now that its gone and made a bond to not return, I can go back and finish my work. One thing I do know is that this curse can not be dispelled and has to be survived or bested." "A curse that can't be dispelled? I didn't know such a thing could be done. Damned fae. Sounds like you are doing a pretty good job besting it so far!" He still felt a little ashamed for being tricked and captured by the fae, but he tried instead to focus on his friend's success. "So, back to the tower again?" "Yes, soon. First though we need to make you well again. You didn't eat properly for several days, or meditate." That explained why he felt so horrible. "I'll be fine, I should just need a day or so. I don't want to slow you down." "And I could use a day to research and rest before heading back to work. We shall have stew and relax tonight, spend tomorrow regrouping. Then we can see how well you have recovered and if the fae keeps its word." At the mention of stew, his stomach growled. Nodding, his smile grew as a spark of hope returned to him. "Good plan, especially the stew part!" "I had good hunting today. A brace of rabbits, a small deer. Hunting w iht a cat is so difernt than with a dog." SHe beamed at the large sleeping cat napping inthe sunlight "Heheh, I bet, a predator that large that can also sneak up on things? Terrifying!" He stretched his stiff limbs, trying to feel closer to normal. This quest had not been kind to him so far, but he had to find a way to move forward. <-------<<< Woo! Another challenge! Last one did not go so well for me. My poor elf succumbed to the pressures he faced, but luckily he had his friend Noor there to defeat the fae beast and drag him to safety. This challenge I am back with the rangers, and will look very different for me, because school stuff is ramping up again. I am going to focus on balance. In therapy I realized there were 5 basic areas that I need to succeed in to be a happy, healthy person. Academia, spirituality, physical fitness, chores (basic adulting), and reducing my drinking. I have shown many times over that I can rock any one of these at a time. The problem is that I need to make them all work at the same time. For this challenge, I must do something productive in each category to be counted successful. Four of five categories accomplished is a successful day. This feels uncomfortable for me, because it will place less emphasis on several things I've been doing awesome at and more emphasis on things I've been avoiding. I am also trying to practice greater patience and empathy for myself, but most of the time I still want to kick myself in the face. We will see how this goes, hopefully it works better than the last challenge! Woooo! *dives in* Also, I am starting my challenge tomorrow and counting two days past the official end of the challenge because I mixed up what day of the week it was. Oops.

Noor woke early under a warm snoring pile of cat and dog. She smiled to herself, amused by the predictability of animals, even wild ones, during a cold mountain night. She looked for Sovellis and saw his bedroll empty. Stretching and yawning, she slid out from under the sleeping pile and moved to the fire to rekindle the flame and finish the porridge she had left to cook overnight in the coals. She knew that now was a time for planning. She had to find a way out of her Stone Giant form and a way to hold the curse further at bay. As she cooked and thought, she hummed an old halfling song to herself. This felt somehow more manageable now that she was not alone. --,--'--@ Long Term Goal: As always, my goal is to lose 200 LBS. My long term goal is also one of my primary focuses this time because I have to see my parents at the end of this challenge and they are super judgemental about my body and fitness. As such, my goals are going to be designed to try and enhance weight loss and building endurance. Goal 1: Logging food I am going to track my food daily because I find that I lose weight much more consistently if I track. It helps me to be mindful of my food. +3 CON 38 or more days tracked +2 CON 28 days or more tracked +1 CON 14 days or more tracked Goal 2: Endurance Through Cardio: I have had no luck with adding in daily cardio, but I really miss being able to walk all over the place and being confident in my body. As such, I will walk for 10 minutes a day every day. Outside. Option to increase the time as the challenge goes. +3 STA 38 or more days +2 STA 28 or more days +1 STA 14 days or more Goal 3: Getting Strong and Flexible: When training I prefer to work strength and flexibility both, training flexibility on my rest days from strength training. I find that I am less sore overall when I use this method, and I can simply alternate between 2 programs in the same 30-minute block of time, making it easy for scheduling and consistency purposes. I will alternate the following two programs this challenge: STRENGTH: Angry Birds Workout +2 STR 19 or more days +1.5 STR 14 or more days +1 STR 7 or more days FLEXIBILITY: Yoga with Adrienne +2 DEX 19 or more days +1.5 DEX 14 or more days +1 DEX 7 or more days Lifestyle Goals: Self-Care: food, exercise, sleep. Creative outlets. Social support. I need all these things. Goal A: Sleep Schedule: I have to nail this because hospital job starts in August. The true goal is in bed by 10 pm, up at 6. life is complex though, so I m going to say bed between 10 and midnight, up between 6 and 8. On gaming nights, bed as soon as we are done, up 8 hours later. Gaming nights and social events don't like to bow to my schedule. +3 CON 38 days or more +2 CON 28 days or more +1 CON 14 days or more Goal B: Creative outlets: I used to be very creative in my life. I was always making things: sewing, weaving, drawing, crafting, and writing. I have lost all of this in my life through mental illness and graduate school scheduling limitations. I lost the motivation to create, and I feel the lack like a wound that never heals. As such, I am going to add a goal of creating one creative project a week. This can include writing, but for a poem to count it has to also have a dynamic visual component. +2 CHA 6 projects or more +1.5CHA 4 projects +1 CHA 2 projects My motivation, as always, is to shed the curse brought on me by mental illness, stress, trauma, and life. I want to get back to me. (one) (two) (three) (four) (five) (six)

Sovellis groaned as he woke up on the hard stone floor of Noor's mountain hut. This wouldn't do. "First thing we need to work on is making a better bed. Stone is not kind to my poor spine," he grumbled, "and I'm guessing we're going to be out here for a while." Stretching the stiffness from his limbs, he got up and looked around. The giant cat was laying on top of Noor, and the dog, Dael, was laying on top of the cat. The sight made him smile. He tried prodding his friend, who appeared to still be asleep. No reaction. So strange, her skin really felt like stone. Sighing, he got dressed and headed out into the cool sunny day. If she was still asleep, he may as well explore a bit and get the lay of the land. <------<<< Okay, so finally getting this post up. I had some family stuff that needed to be taken care of, but now that's out of the way. Still kinda processing stuff, but I think I can finally move forward with the challenge. I've moved over to the assassins because I want to work more on dex based stuff like slacklining. I'm trying to keep going on the habits I've been building in previous challenges, re-trying a failed goal, and adding in some new goals. This challenge will be done partly in conjunction with my friend Noor (her challenge post can be found here: Breaking Stoneshape ) Anyways, here's my goals for this challenge! 1. No Taverns in the Wild Redeux (CON): A = 1 day or less of drinking a week B = 2 days of drinking a week C = 3 days of drinking a week F = more than 3 days 2. Nimble Hunter (DEX): A = 5 days or more a week doing slacklining or archery B = 4 days a week C = 3 days a week 3. Warrior Poet (CHA/INT): Write a limerick a day! A = 38 days B = 32 C = 28 4. Make Ishu Proud (STR/STA): Keep up the strength and cardio training! A = 38 days B = 32 C = 28

On the night that Noor VonKlaven cracked the curse that trapped her body in stone, the room filled with light and magics coursed through the air, painting her hut in light bright as day. She held her arms wide open as the faystone coursed down her body, running like water to pool at the base of the stone wall at the back of the hut. She breathed deeply and shook her finger tips in a shooing gesture. The stone writhed in a purple glowing mass for a moment before springing upward. Written upon the wall in a shimmering purple-silver script were the following words. To break the curse, to shed the stone For actions taken you must atone Free yourself from habits staid Run, walk, jump, dance, Fight with sharpened blade. A body reflects how we dine Whether mutton or breads, Sweet grasses, water, mead Or glowing elven wine. If a Halfling’s body you do seek Then with Halfling’s pride you must eat. Small of stature swift of feet, Climbing walls with ease Move in silent shadows, Glide down alleys, smoke down streets. If a rogue’s smooth grace you crave, The rooftop faydance you must brave. Stature is not strength or brawn; Small fighters’ blades are true. To build the strength within the arms, The Heart’s true strength guides you. If it is strength in arms that you desire You must brave the ring, defeat Balefire. Three seasons time you have of grace To quest, to journey, to find your face. If you cannot by springs first thaw Forever keep your body broad. By stone and magic one times three The quest is given, so mote it be. --,--‘--@ So Noor is free from the stone that encased her, and I am free from the metaphorical stone of inaction. We still have a long way to go before we make it to the springy ball of death and magick we want to be though. As such, here I am. Hi there Assassins. Well met . Long Term Goal: I am hoping to lose 200lbs. I do not have a finish date for this because slow steady weight loss is better, but I think 3 years should do it. I would love to be at my goal weight before my 35th birthday. My short-term-long-term goal is that I want to lose at least one dress size before I start my internship in August. Goal 1: Whole 42: In order to cleanse my body and improve my metabolic outcomes, I will be engaging in strict gluten free, grain free, primal eating. We used to eat strictly primal and my wife and I were both much healthier. Plus, my hypothyroid condition will be better managed. +3 CON 38 or more days Primal +2 CON 28 days or more Primal +1 CON 14 days or more Primal Goal 2: Endurance Through Cardio: I used to be a runner and I loved it. Now, walking for 15 minutes causes pain and struggle. In order to improve on this I am going to make a goal of 20 minutes of daily cardio in the afternoon and evenings. This will have an added bonus of helping to reduce stiffness and leg swelling from sitting all day at work.The initial goal proved too much for my back, so instead I am going to work on increasing my daily steps per day. I need to meet or exceed my Fitbit steps per day goal to get credit, and I will increase this by 2K per week, gradually increasing my movement overall. Then, next challenge, cardio again. +3 STA 38 or more days +2 STA 28 or more days +1 STA 14 days or more Goal 3: Getting Strong and Flexible: When training I prefer to work strength and flexibility both, training flexibility on my rest days from strength training. I find that I am less sore overall when I use this method, and I can simply alternate between 2 programs in the same 30 minute block of time, making it easy for scheduling and consistency purposes. I will alternate the following two programs this challenge: STRENGTH: the Angry Birds Workout +2 STR 19 or more days +1.5 STR 14 or more days +1 STR 7 or more days FLEXIBILITY: AM Yoga for your week +2 DEX 19 or more days +1.5 DEX 14 or more days +1 DEX 7 or more days Lifestyle Goals: Self-Care in Two Domains: I have the most stress and crazy possible right now because my final year of my doctorate is wrapping up and I am going off to internship. The two most important things for this for me are regular sleep and a creative outlet. Goal A: Sleep Schedule: Now, life is complicated. If I were working one consistent job, I could probably manage a consistent bed time daily with little variation. Since I have functionally 3 right now, things are a bit more complex. My goal is to be in my bed lights out by midnight every night. My bedtime will be 10 PM when my schedule permits it. I will be up no later than 8 am. Schedule permitting I would like to be up by 6.+3 CON 38 days or more +2 CON 28 days or more +1 CON 14 days or more Goal B: Creative Process: I am a writer. I have always been one, since I started journaling in 3rd grade. I don’t ever take the time to write anymore. Since the school part of graduate school is pretty much over after the 15th when I turn in my dissertation draft, I am making a goal to write for 1 hour a day. For the purposes of this challenge this has to be creative writing or journaling of some kind, be it poetry, fiction, or other.+3 CHA 38 days or more +2 CHA 28 days or more +1 CHA 14 days or more My motivation, as always, is to shed the curse brought on me by mental illness, stress, trauma, and life. I want to get back to me. UPDATES:(one)(two)(three)(four)(five)(six) --,--;--@ * @--'--,-- MINIS:(one)(two)(three)(four)(five)(six)

Sovellis woke with a blinding headache, cursing the sun, festivals, wine, himself, and pretty much everything else. Now that the festival week was over, he felt he could use a holiday from his holiday. Perhaps he had gotten a little too carried away during the festivities. Heh, well his father was fond of reminding him that he never did anything half way, for good or ill. He should probably get up. Maybe. Eventually. Then there was the decision between throwing up, having breakfast, or both. He began a fresh round of cursing when he heard a sharp tapping sound at his window. What could be making such a racket? Grumbling incoherently he threw the first thing he could reach at the window. The book hit the wall a good ten feet from the window, utterly failing to deter the source of the torturous sound. With a low growl, the elf climbed out of bed, brushing his long black hair from his face. "Whoever you are, you'd better have a damn good reason for waking me!" he threatened, stumbling to the window and throwing it open, only to have a small bird fly in. He started swearing and swatting at it, but crumpled into a ball on the floor, holding his head. What the hell was he doing with his life? He used to fight monsters and start insurrections, now he was defeated by a songbird."Hey there long ears I hope this finds you well," the voice startled him and he jumped. "Noor?!" Trying to get to his feet, he only managed to trip on a pile of papers and fell hard, swearing again. Only then did he realize that it was the bird talking, and not his old friend. "Of course you sent an animal. Always with the animals." The bird continued, "I am in a bit of a bind in the far north mountains above Soar Craig- you know the ones, where Ingy got that lovely curse and then we accidentally fell through a mountain to Intregoss. I took a job guarding a stupid fat merchant up into the old hall and something... fell on us. Killed my battle boar outright. I should really stick to dogs. tehy are somehow more durable. I am the only survivor, but I am... changed. In order to get myself back, I have one doosy of a quest to go on, and I need my sharpshooter and resident bard to figure it all out. Besides, it's not been the same since the Path disbanded. I miss you Sov. Just whisper your answer to the bird and it will fly it to me. blessings of Jensa be upon us both. Solosu as well." Shaking his head, he stared at the bird in disbelief, then leaned forward. "Noor, you crafty little shit, you scared the crap out of me! I'm not sure how much help I can be, but at least my injuries are healed now. I'm on my way. Can't wait to see you again, you curly tailed quarterling!" As the bird flew off to deliver his response, he leaned back against the wall. What good could he be to her? He was useless, nothing like he had been, but he had to try, right? Alright, that settled it, he had to get up and get dressed so he could prepare for his unexpected journey. <------<<< So! This is my first challenge as a ranger, and it's going to be a tough one! I realized a lot of things in my first challenge that are holding me back. It is time to set things right and get myself healthy, both physically and mentally. Main Goal: Feel better about myself. I suffer from anxiety and depression, as well as some serious self image and body issues. I want to learn to see the good in me, and not just my failures or inadequacies. I plan to attack this on multiple fronts. Goal 1: Trail Rations! (CON) I am cutting all the junk out of my diet. No grains, no sugar (except a small bit of honey in my coffee). I plan to be eating pretty much only lean meat and vegetables. On one hand this shouldn't be too hard, since I don't have a sweet tooth or anything, but on the other hand, I do eat a lot of rice and potatoes and I'm a sucker for potato chips. +3 CON 38 or more days +2 CON 28 days or more +1 CON 14 days or more Goal 2: No taverns in the wild (CON) I am going to allow myself only one day each week when I can have any alcohol at all. I need to stop sabotaging myself with my love of beer. +3 CON 6 or less drinking days +2 CON 12 or less +1 CON 15 or less Goal 3: No jungle rot (CHA) Even in the wilds it is important to maintain a basic level of grooming, something I have been struggling with (yay depression!). I have set up a scoring system for basic grooming tasks such as brushing my teeth, shaving, or showering. I will post that separately from this (this post is getting pretty long already). Goal 4: Climbing through the mountains (STR/STA) I will continue my strength training and C25K (indoor bike if weather is uncooperative). +3 STR/STA 38 or more days +2 STR/STA 28 days or days +1 STR/STA 14 points or days(a completed day will constitute cardio plus either weight training or archery) Life Goal: GRADUATE - I am working on getting my doctorate in clinical psychology. All I have left is internship and dissertation, and both of these have been rather epic quests in and of themselves. Here is a link to my friend Noor's challenge thread! http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/63198-noor-stoneshod-journey/#entry1445491