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Yes, it's my second full challenge and I'm already having a rest, after going way off target with my first challenge! SO LAZY, YES?? That's right, I have no discipline to give to health, fitness and diet. No discipline, no willpower, no motivation, no inspiration, no knuckle down and do the work-ness, no just do it-ness, none of it. But wait! All is not lost! This challenge, I am making my overarching goal to ENJOY BEING ALIVE (since I don't do that very often). And I'm making it food and fitness related! (That's right, I said FOOD related!). As your intuitive-eater-in-residence, I declare my first bit of the mission: 1. EAT WHAT YOU LOVE, LOVE WHAT YOU EAT In the past few days, I've been trying this on for size again, and I'm getting back into my groove with how awesome this really is... Yesterday, I realised that I really wanted carrot and apples with houmous. And with nobody to tell me that these foods are "good" or "healthy" I realised they didn't automatically taste of deprivation, but are actually bloody amazing! Pink lady apples and carrot sticks and houmous are on my list of Awesome Foods I Love. This morning I had a sausage sandwich for breakfast. I really enjoyed the breakfast-y smell of it, and a bit of BBQ sauce. Our new nutty bread is nice, but I like brown too. White usually tastes like I would imagine wet cardboard to taste, so I don't like that. I wasn't hungry for hours, then I wanted a small maple & pecan cheesecake (300 cals in case you're wondering what I define as a small cheesecake). The first half was beautiful, the second half was OK, I left a tiny bit (deliberately - more on that in a minute!) and I took about half an hour to eat the whole thing. It's OK for me to enjoy all kinds of foods, I get that now. A few hours later I was hungry again so had a bit of breaded lemon sole. I usually have loads of Mayo with it because I think that's what I want, but a bit of analysis led me to realise that I only put the Mayo on it to cool it down, because I hate my food burny-hot... So I waited 10 minutes for the fish to cool down and had it on its own. It was delicious! I've been obscuring the lovely taste of how many foods with what is essentially egg and vinegar and fat dressing? Wtf. And just like that, I don't really like Mayo any more. Maybe in a sandwich. I don't know, I'll wait and see. I remember when this happened to me with ice cream, it was a happy day, lol! It's a few hours later now and I'm still happily not hungry, and I enjoyed every single thing I ate today. I guess I might have knocked back around 1200 cals or so? That's low, but I've had a lazy Sunday and my massive exertion for the day was going out for a pint of milk. Other days are different! So, from being afraid of the food missions, to doing the food missions in my own way! Expect words. LOADS OF WORDS. About the foods. All the foods. Expect analysis and lots of it. What the food smelled like, the packaging, what mood I was in, who I was with, what I'd done that day... Etc. About that other thing: I'm leaving a small bit of food behind each time I eat something. It doesn't have to be a huge amount, but I've unearthed an unhealthy and irrational fear of wasting food or leaving it behind. I don't know where it came from, but regardless, I don't want it. My body is not a bin. And the only way I'll ever stop wasting food is by figuring out what portion sizes work for me, and I'll never work that out if I always think I have to eat EVERYTHING that's there. So I think that by the end of this challenge, I won't be 195lbs any more. I want weight loss, but it's not the goal. That's the thing with me and goals. I can never look directly at them. +5 CON if I eat what I love, and love what I eat, 30 days out of 42! Joined the Mindful Eating FTW! Accountability thread, because as I remember it, this way of eating is something that takes reflection, and talking it through with others really helps. I still can't believe I found a mindful eating accountability thread... too much awesome for words! 2. WALK MOAR I decided at the end of my last challenge that 2500 miles of walking would get me into a ballpark of getting shot of the approximate 70lbs of fat I want to get shot of, all other things being equal. My baseline is pretty sedentary apart from my job, which I'm hoping to be out of soon anyway , and back on a daytime schedule. So I'm not counting that. Goal is as stated. Walk more. Nice and nebulous and non-SMART (Yeah, I'm breaking the rules here because the rules work but I make them not work by sabotaging myself). I started at 2500 miles on 10 Feb. I'm down to 2456 (I think) and only counting anything outwith my normal routine using the runtastic app on my phone. Been ill since Friday 20th and at work so no long walks since then, and because of a uni deadline on Weds 25th I probably won't go far until after that, but should get back into it with a 4.5 mile walk to work on Thursday afternoon Up to +5 STA depending on how far I get, and how much it feels like an awesome, enjoyable, habitual addition to my life by the end of the challenge. Doing PVP - Walkers this time round! My first PVP. I trust that I'm taking a relaxed enough attitude to this whole challenge to keep my confidence up through the competitive aspect of the challenge. 3. MINIS!!! No mini in week 1 because of the uni deadline. Weeks 2-6 i'll dream up minis that take my fancy because reasons. +5 other points for minis depending on how I feel at the time. Edit: Starting measurements etc from 23 Feb 2015! Weight: 193.4lbsScale Bf%: 48%DoD Bf%: 41.6%Scale H2O%: 37.2%Lean mass: 100.6lbsChest (upper): 40.5Chest (lower): 34.5Waist: 37Hips: 43Neck: 14.5Right upper arm: 14.5Left upper arm: 14Right lower arm: 10.5Left lower arm: 10.5Right thigh: 29Left thigh: 28.5Right calf: 18Left calf: 18.5

Dear Druids, thank you for letting me play in your sandbox this round! Hello errbody! Welcome to the challenge in which Flea finally touches hers- er, gets in touch with herself. I don't pay enough attention to my body and what it's telling me, and I don't take enough time to focus on recharging and bettering myself. I have a tendency to just coast through the present while living mostly in the past or the future. Over the past 5 months I've started eating better and exercising more but not really paying attention to how I feel as a result. I didn't realize that running before work made my loathsome job more bearable or that I didn't feel so lethargic eating vegan for the last challenge. The longer I play around on NF the more I'm realizing my body is capable of some awesomeness but I'm definitely taking it for granted. On top of that, I'm headed to England for grad school in September. Grad school is stressful. Getting a visa and plane tickets and packing for a year is stressful. The prospect of making new friends when you're crazy shy and have a touch of social anxiety but you know you have to do it unless you want to spent a whole year alone in a dorm room the size of a closet? There's not even a word for how stressful that is. So this is me being proactive for once in my life and implementing ways to deal with stress & anxiety and be more aware of who I am, how I deal with things, etc. As usual I just wrote up an entire wall of text but still didn't manage to explain my goals very well. Cookies to everyone who's made it this far. Main Goal: Figure out who I am and what makes me tick. Goal 1: Daily yoga (+1 DEX, +2 CON) I took some free classes in college and loved the way it felt, physically and... idk? Internally? Mentally/spiritually? I did a 30-day challenge as part of a previous NF challenge, but didn't continue after. This time I want to lay the foundations for a lifelong practice. Proprioception. I love that word. I want to cultivate awareness of where I am, how I move, and really pay attention to posture/etc. I think I'll redo that 30-day challenge, then find other videos on YouTube. If anyone has suggestions of sites/videos/books, send them my way!Grading: 7x/wk = A; 6x/wk = B; 5x/wk = C; <5x/wk = come on Flea, you can do better than that! :\ Goal 2: Daily meditation after I wake up (+3 WIS, +2 CHA) Also something I've dabbled in but not really been consistent with. 5 minutes every day for week 1, increasing at least 1 minute each week after. Grading: same as yoga. Goal 3: Journal for 20 minutes before bed (+3 WIS) I've been journaling for almost 6 months but sometimes cop out with "Here's a summary of my day, I'm tired and it's bedtime now." I want to focus on other things like WHY I felt a certain way at work, or a random thought that occured to me, or why I felt anxious sending an email. Digging deeper into my feelings/thoughts/fears will help me understand, work around, and/or overcome obstacles in my life, find my motivation, and simply understand myself better. Grading: avg 18-20 minutes/day = A; avg 16-17 = B; 14-15 = C; <14 minutes/day = I'm not even trying. Bonus: every minute over 25 will count for half a minute, because if I'm on a roll I don't want to feel tempted to stop just because the timer's done. Life quest: Study ALL the languages! (+2 WIS, +2 CHA) I love love love languages. Figuring out grammar rules, learning new vocabulary, understanding bitchy YouTube comments... this is where I thrive.I was nearly fluent in French and at an intermediate level in Arabic but haven't used either in 4 years. (Fun fact: I have tattoos in both languages.) I've studied Spanish informally and could be so much better if I put regular effort into it. I want to learn a dozen other languages but won't get there if I don't start.Minimum 3 Duolingo lessons in Spanish or German, OR 1 chapter of Arabic or French.Grading: 7x/wk = A; 6x/wk = B; 5x/wk = C; <5x/wk = Look at your life, look at your choices...End goal: Self-awareness and world domination Thanks for sticking around! On y va!

I recently “started†training in BJJ for the second time and I’m really excited to keep training. I’m not in as good of shape as I would like to be, and it’s difficult for me to make it through the class and sparring afterwards. Along with this, I’d like to improve my body composition. I figure the two will go hand in hand with this challenge. The hardest part of this challenge will be actually getting to my BJJ/Muay Thai classes. I tend to put everything else in my life ahead of my personal well-being, and I need to balance it out. I’m good at working and getting great grades, now I need to be good at taking care of myself and doing things I enjoy. Primary goal: Improve body composition/overall fitness level How this will happen: Attend BJJ classes and Muay Thai classes at least twice a week I’m going to school and working on top of training, so I will make as many classes as I can without compromising grades. I also want to make some of the cardio conditioning classes at my dojo, but they are at 5:30 am… I’ve noticed it is way too hard to get myself to do much of anything when I’m sleep deprived. Maintain a healthy diet (no buying “fast foodâ€) Since I’m a student, this will require a lot of cooking in advance. I also won’t be making much money until late January (when I start my second job), so I would rather concentrate on saving money than spending it on food that isn’t even good for me. Strength training As of now I don’t have a great deal of body strength. I feel like trying to get a little stronger would help me fare better in sparring matches in BJJ. The plan is to hit the gym on days I can’t make it to a class. I will give myself 1-2 rest days a week. Life goal: I want to work on stress management. Training definitely helps relieve the stress, but when I’m not in class I get into my head and worry about grades, getting into med school, backup plans in case I fail, etc. I think I’m going to try meditation. I’ve never done it before though, so if anyone has any resources for a beginner I would appreciate them Side note: I’m going to Chicago for 3.5 days this week for an interview (2 days interview + 1.5 days for traveling and a little exploring.. even though it's going to be freezing). I’m going to try as hard as I can to stay on track, but I may not count those days in my final grading.

UPDATE (Nov 12): Thanks to all for the feedback! Most of the goals are now sorted out Hi. I'm a Wizard. Or at least I aspire to be a Wizard. NF has no caster types, though, so the Druids' guild is the closest match. I've always been one for multiclassing anyway, so it's all good. Speaking of multiclassing, I have some existing degree of fitness and exercise regularly, so this challenge contains very little goals in terms of physical exercise. Exercise is sort of like my therapy, so I'm all good there...for the time being. My diet is also relatively clean (no junk, no bread, no pasta and no beer 95% of the time.) I took on my first challenge already and passed it with average colors and planned to do challenge #2 in the Assassins's guild due to being a fan of body weight exercises but...it seems like I have a permanent case of mind fog, which hinders any attempts I make to level up as a Wizard. I fear--nay, I KNOW--I'm at a stage now where I can't really level up my life anymore unless I lose the mental encumberance. Let's just say having a clear mind and a more positive outlook in general is a prerequisite to me gaining any more levels in anything. tl;dr version: I'm a mental wreck and I hate it. I've also picked up the book How To Be A Mentalist recently, thinking "OMG, this will totally help me become a Wizard!" Naturally, I started reading it as sooon as I got home, thesis writing be damned. However, the first few pages of the book stated that in order to be a mentalist, one must have a clear mind in order to have better observation powers. Well, shit. This is like the opposite of me. Instead of complaining and feeling sorry for myself like I normally do, though, why don't I take on a NF challenge to make some changes happen? Main quest: Where do I want to be in a few months? LESS STRESSED. More successful, possessing an attention span greater than that of a squirrel on PCP, being able to think more clearly, having powers of observation that at least put me in the "functional" range of society. No joke, often times while playing D&D online, my friend will ask me "Did you loot?" and I'll reply "Huh? What loot?" and then I'll be told that there was a chest that I was standing RIGHT NEXT TO and did't notice. Then I'll feel like a complete retard, think I'm not even worthy of being in the party, hate myself for being the group's village idiot (seriously, aren't Wizards supposed to have high INT?) and it all goes downhill... For example, the .gif below is a good example of my I-just-died-because-of-lag (or I-just-caused-a-party-wipe) reaction: Just add F-bombs. I also I want the constant negative, racing thoughts and ever-present mental fog to GTFO. I want to be the stoic, unflippable badass that I picture myself being in my fantasies, as opposed to the spineless pansy who cries and/or flips right the fuck out as soon as the slightest, most insignificant little thing happens. I want more than 1/10 self-confidence. I don't want to be that person with the legendary mental instability and ever-swinging mood. I want to be able to function like a normal person who isn't stressed out and anxious all the time for no particular reason. I want my mind to be clear. I want to be able to think and focus. I want to be able to form a sentence properly on the first try, without stuttering because of anxiety or thinking I'll screw up my words somehow (which constantly happens because I'm nervous, due to being afraid of being nervous.) I don't want to be the poster person for social awkwardness but, as it is now, I can't observe anything worth a shit, or pay attention, or follow discussions half the time. Okay, maybe that's too much of a transformation to ask for in 6 weeks. This might be an unrealistic main quest for a 6-week challenge, but y'know what? Screw it! It shall be a main quest in life in general, with the more immediate quest being Nax becomes a mentalist. Incredibly specific goals that will help me achieve the main quest: 2.1: Meditate daily. Which type of meditation? Whichever type I try! The first one will be: ...the basic meditation exercise in the Mentalist book I mentioned earlier. The book also describes other, more advanced types of meditation that the author suggests should be done with a mentor at first but...mentors tend to not be cheap, nor are classes :\ Eh. I might try them on my own later anyway. What could possibly go wrong? If I pass out, then great, it's cheaper than alcohol. 2.2: Do some kind of yoga or breath exercise every day. See above re. which type of yoga. I'll be hitting up the link Evenewbie posted below, do the beginner program on DoYogaWithMe.com. 2.3: Do the daily brain training on Lumosity. I've been slacking on that site so much lately, it's not even funny. Side quests: 3.1: STOP PICKING AT MY FACE/NECK/HAIR!!1 Update (Nov 13): I've decided to give myself some kind of a grading system for the picking issue: Catch myself picking less than 5 times in one day: 0 points (A.) Catch myself picking between 5 and 10 times in one day: 1 point (B.) ...Between 11-15 times: 2 points (C.) ...Between 16-20 times: 3 points (D.) ...Between 21 and 25 times: 4 points (F.) At the end I'll add up all my points and convert them to a letter grade...somehow. I'll worry about the math later. I'm hoping that, now that I know there's a grade attached to picking, I'll be more conscious of it, and my face will become prettier as I stop mauling the hell out of it. 3.2: Eat more vegetables. This was actually a quest from a previous challenge. I didn't rock it as well as I wanted to, so it's following me into this challenge. UPDATE (Nov 19): The scoring method for this is as follows: 4 vegetable helpings: A 3 vegetable helpings: B 2 vegetable helpings: C 1 vegetable helping: D 0 vegetable helpings: F ...because "below averavge", "average", and "above average" just wasn't doing it. This goal should be easy because I am lazy and don't like to cook, so raw veggies should be my go-to snack, right? (Added in late Nov) 3.3: Drink less alcohol. Graded in a pass/fail manner, with two FAILs permitted per week because weekends. And holidays. As an added bonus, I'll do some kind of intro quest ongoing quest before the challenge begins as the challenge proceeds: clean my freaking room, and maybe even decorate it to my liking. Maybe if I make it MY space, I'll be able to meditate and/or work better in there. Some (most) of the clutter needs to go. Maybe with a clear room, I'll have a clearer mind? Another mini-goal was to get a user pic. DONE, on Nov 18. And no, it isn't me in the pic ;P LES' DO THIS!

"I'm prepared to scour the the Earth for that motherfucker. If (ENERGY) goes to Indochina, I want a n*#$$# waiting in a bowl of rice ready to pop a cap in (her) ass!" last challenge was nothing to write home about. life happend an i was mostly overwhelmed. i want to find a way to keep building my own business as a social worker, studying psychology, moving, reducing cigarettes and losing weight without it being too much to handle. so im back with a new set of mini - goals intended to maximize my physical and mental energy. GOAL I "You remember Antoine Roccamora, half black, half Samoan, used to call him Tony Rocky Horror? "Yeah, maybe. Fat, right?" " I wouldn't go so far as to call the brother fat, I mean he got a weight problem. What's the n*#$$# gonna do? He's Samoan." week 1: prepare 3 healthy dinners for the week. start each day with a bowl of quinoa, fruit, eggs, selfmade muffins or oats.week 2: prepare 5 healthy dinners for the week. start each day with healthy food like described above.week 3: prepare 5 healthy dinners for the week. also prep 3 meals to take to work. selfmade breakfast.week 4-6: prepare 5 healthy dinners for the week. healthy breakfast. take food if you are away from home at lunchtime. no fastfood until end of challenge.count calories at myfitnesspal daily.lose 3 kg this challenge to finally get into the double digits ( 99 kg/ 218 lbs) dont gain because of quitting smoking.GOAL II So,tell me again about the hashbars? Okay, what you wanna know? Hash is legal there in Amsterdam, right? Yeah, it's legal, but it ain't a hundred percent legal. I mean, you can't just walk into a restaurant, roll a joint and start puffing away. You're only supposed to smoke in your home or certain designated places. And those are hashbars? Yeah. It breaks down like this: it's legal to buy it, it's legal to own it, and, if you're the proprietor of a hash bar, it's legal to sell it. It's still illegal to carry it around, but that doesn't really matter 'cause... get a load of this: if you get stopped by the cops in Amsterdam, it's illegal for them to search you. I mean, that's a right the cops in Amsterdam don't have. [laughing] I'm going, that's all there is to it, I'm fuckin' going. Yeah baby, you'd dig it the most. i dont smoke weed. still the cigarettes need to go. ive tried to quit several times during last challenge and went literally insane. now i have ben reducing them which is usually not recommened but works well for me. during last challenge i reduced to 23. this challenge i want to get down to 20/ a day.week 1 reduce to 22week 3 reduce to 21week 5 reduce to 20changed goal: stop smoking completely on monday 09.23th. battle plan.... nicotine patch. GOAL III i want to get more physical energy and improve my mood. i have almost recovered from my inflamed archilles-tendons. a trial run showed that i can run a mile almost without pain. still i need to be careful.i get back to my playout concept of giving myself the option to move in whatever way i want. there is 3 rules though:1) move at least 2 hours for week 1 - 3 of the challenge. week 4 - 6: make that 3 hoursnew goal: move at least 1 hour a day, get sweaty at least once a day.2) go move in nature at least once a week and stay outside for an hour 3) this challenge its about getting back into it with playfulness. no improvement necessary! GOAL IV during last challenge i had to fight insomnia. goal for this one is to get back to good sleeping habits and using plant based pills ( non of the adictive, bad stuff!)sleep 8 - 9 hours every night.( weird, but i need that much to function..) not more, not less.prepare going to bed by calming down ( read, listen to soft music, dim the light, get the right temperature and fresh air into bedroom....)