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Hi Rangers! I had a blast in the Druids but it's good to be home. What I've been doing isn't working so I've decided to change course and not rely on the gym right now, but strength train regularly at home, hoping that will give me the energy to sort my shit out, get my bike fixed and go to the gym more. This map roughly corresponds to my town which I will be moving out of at the end of the year. It's such a beautiful place I want to make sure I've enjoyed it before I leave - and what better way to do that than by gamifying it? This challenge I will be exploring Mt Moon - visiting the museum and drawing some of the architecture in the city. 1. Strength training - 3x week. Sticking to Stronglifts because I know I like it, but minus the squats - instead I'm doing wall sits daily. Doesn't matter if I progress at all, I just need to be pumping iron. This goal includes at least one gym visit per week, but it doesn't have to be strength training. 2. Drawing/exploring - 1 per week Hopefully this gives me some material to update my blog. One trip will be to the museum, the others will be around the city to sketch scenes. 3. 5min flow and knee exercises EVERY DAY I find it really difficult to stick to daily goals but it's time to stop cutting myself slack I don't need, because I can handle this, despite being busy. It's only 7 minutes out of my day! Other stuff I've got on the go: Unreferenced character sketches 1xweek Online free permaculture course from Oregon State University - 1 module per week for this month Pokemon drawings - no schedule Still doing Lights Out - able to use my discretion about when to skip it Art skills level up - this month is about drapery, but also finishing off last month's portraits Working on my website - currently doing a self portrait to use as my profile picture 100 days of keto - day 14 as of the start of this challenge and feeling great

Hello Warriors! I've been waiting SO LONG to get in here. People have been telling me to lift heavy to reach my goals, but due to a chronic lack of money and space I was never able to build myself that power rack *sniff*. I tried and hated bodyweight workouts; incidentally, does anybody else here hate them? Meanwhile, over the last couple of years I read New Rules of Weightlifting for Women and dabbled in home workouts including HIIT, running, dumbbells, dance, kettlebells etc; all the while dreaming of pumping that iron. Well, the time has finally come: I somehow managed to wangle three months at a *very* swanky gym for free and once my time is up there I fully intend to join the very reasonably priced muscle gym within walking distance of my home. I was thinking about joining a no-frills pay-as-you-go gym, but I keep hearing horror stories about them being packed to bursting with cardio machines and a single, inadequately stocked squat rack... Watch out, here come the goals! Goal #1: Do Stronglifts 5x5 three times a week I've already completed two sessions at the swanky gym and couldn't have hoped for a better introduction to the programme. A really helpful and friendly fitness instructor assisted me with my form and showed me where everything was. Unless I miss a session I've decided to train Monday, Wednesday and Friday and avoid the weekends. I made the huge mistake of going yesterday (Saturday). One squat rack had two bros doing dumbbells in it, the one next to it had two women alternating pull-ups, squats with a 10kg plate and a weird bastardisation of OHP - lifting one end of an empty barbell... The final rack had a personal trainer and client, so I decided to wait there - a good move - the morons were still messing about long after I was finished with my workout. BEGONE, WITCH!!!! Goal #2: Support 5x5 appropriately In my case, this means foam rolling prior to the workout, performing the suggested accessory exercises on the Stronglifts 5x5 app after the compound lifts, and doing some sort of restorative yoga on rest days. I like Grokker and Do Yoga With Me for sheer variety. Goal #3 Eat properly, eat MOAR For 'gain muscle, lose fat' Scooby's calculator set my calories at 1957. For me, this is the upper limit as it is a lifelong dream (sad, but true) to reach 20% body fat and I'm so close! I'm not skinny-fat, but I have a belly and don't want to add to it IN BIKINI SEASON then do a dramatic cut. Hopefully newbie gainz will help me gain strength while on the lightest of cuts. Thanks to Britain's England's (thanks, SpecialSundae) draconian Sunday trading laws, combined with Europe's overenthusiastic sell-by-dates I managed to get serious amounts of beef and fish for half price, which will see me through till the end of the week. Must remember this for next week... One of the upsides about the amounts of non-lifting exercises I did for the last two years is that my cardio and muscle endurance is pretty damn good, and I only get light DOMS. So I plan to keep my calories in check by spinning straight after Stronglifts (I can run for free at home, but cycling's not safe in London - and I don't have a bike anyway, so why not use a fancy one?). I'm aware this could get grim as the weights go up, so I'm happy to ease off the cardio once it does. Me, after a 2016 of 1300 calories per day, since beginning Stronglifts 5x5 Goal #4: Track everything I've been using MFP for years. Finally lost 10lbs this year on very low calories. Gone down a bra size too. I will measure at the beginning and end of each month's challenge, and track weight daily so I can see trends and adjust calories accordingly. And take pics. I've eaten today, so I won't depress myself with a pic of my already bulging belly. What do I need to take pics of Do I need to flex in all of them? Will do it Tuesday! Height: 5'4" (this is more for you than me) Age: 34 Weight: 126lbs / 57kg Wrist: 6" Bust: 33" Underbust: 29" Overbust (as in top of pecs?): 32.5" Arm: 10" Forearm 9" Hips: 36.5" Thigh: 21.5" Calf: 13.5" Neck: 13" Any tips on measurements/pics will be gratefully received. Right, I'm off for some lazy restorative yoga. Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

My goals last round went well, so this round is going to be similar. I have no theme... Goal #1: Train for and execute the June triathlon Bf and I are doing a 3mi canoe, 3mi run, 8mi bike (half distance compared to previous years) 6/5. We need to practice canoeing (the first year we had a disagreement in the canoe), plus normal training. Goal #2: 5 servings veggies/day Still trying to find a balance. Focusing on incorporating more vegetables seems to help squeeze out carbs. Goal #3: Sleeping/Waking routine Having no kids, and really not that many commitments, I can and should be prioritizing sleep more. 8 hours (tracked by Fitbit), with 5 minute morning meditation. Bonus Goals: (aka being a grownup) Plant/tend the garden Read the Kondo book (I feel a purge coming on and want to use the book as impetus) Clean the kitchen: oven, refrigerator, microwave Buy the chest freezer and bulk meat order Buy the kitchen island and reorganize Keep May groceries under $400 (except meat purchase) Cook 4 new recipes (1 each out of the cookbooks I have checked out) I'm counting the freezer, meat, and island as my 'rewards' for completing last challenge's goals.

Ah can't believe the new forums were up Monday and I haven't gotten this yet. I've had it saved in a word file since Saturday but I slacked on actually posting it. Soooo May’s challenge will be a continuation of April’s. I’m switching some of the finer points of the grading system around but otherwise it’s basically the same. I’ll be continuing on with my same story from last time, and I’ll be using zero week to post the plots I owed from weeks 3 and 4 of last challenge. It’s Once Upon a Time themed, which is kind of a huge guilty pleasure show of mine and full of kick ass female characters so obviously, it's perfect. For those just joining, April was a really tough month for me due to some family problems. But with some very sage advice and a bit of a kick in the butt from some awesome Rangers I decided to put it behind me and start focusing on myself. I can’t let other people’s problems affect my well being. (PS Did I tell you guys you’re awesome yet? WELL YOU ARE!) Each week I will spend percentage points of my completed tasks on progressing my character through my story. There are three types of points – chaining, combo and one shot. Chaining goals are things I want to do every single damn day. They gain momentum and are worth more the more days in a row I complete them (maxing out at 3 points/day). I can complete one combo goal per day and it will DOUBLE my chaining goal total for the day (this is a bit different than last time, instead of multiplying a specific chain goal they multiply my daily total, also I'm only allowing myself one per day to avoid trying to play "catch up" if I miss something). Combo goals are my workout goals more or less. One shot goals are unrelated to the other goals, and I can perform them any time during the week and are worth 10 points each (vs last challenge they were worth 3). My one shot goals are kind of random, but are mostly self-care and adulating based. A big change I am making from the last challenge is that all chaining goals begin anew on Mondays. Each week is a fresh start. Chaining Goals: (every damn day) Yoga & Meditate Follow the sleep plan: Get in bed AT LEAST 7.5 hours before I have to get up, lights out 7 hours before I have to get up. No sleep debt payback, this is an every night or bust goal. Follow my TV rules: On full work days (work day the day of and the next day) I can only watch ONE episode of TV. On non-work nights I can watch a maximum of 3 episodes and must do something productive in between the episodes. On non-work days I can watch a maximum of 6 episodes of something and must do something productive between episodes and also must stand or primal squat for a minimum of one third of the time of each episode beyond the third AND I must have completed all my chaining and combo goals for the day before going past 3 episodes. Fly Lady. This will be the challenge I graduate from the baby steps. It will be! No Dairy. Self-explanatory. No alcohol. For the entire month of May until I go visit my aunt for Memorial Day weekend. Then this is no longer a goal for the last few days of May). Drink <90oz of water each day. Combo Goals: (scheduled workouts which double chained goal totals - 1/day max) Stronglifts (aiming for 3x/week) Upper body accessory workout (aiming for 1x/week) Zombies, Run (aiming for 1x/week) Fun workout (hike, ruck, archery, this can be anything – aiming for 1x/week) Restorative yoga (aiming for 1x/week) One Shot Goals: (+10 points each, weekly goals) Meal prep for the next week done Foam Roll 2x/week <1 Eating out for the week Laundry done with no floordrobe or tabledrobe… because my floordrobe problem was fixed but now I have a tabledrobe. Intermittent Fast 2x/week (I can do this however I want depending on the day – skip a meal, eat within certain hours of the day, whatever works) Complete Ranger Mini It’s summer break for me now (well as soon as I finish my last final project due this Friday) so I don’t have to worry about homework for a few months and I’m SO EXCITED! I am totally ready to put my struggles of April behind me and kick this challenge in the rear. For anyone confused by this point system, here is an example of a "perfect" week, with the chaining goals building up and the combo goals where I aim to accomplish them each week. M T W R F S U Weekly Daily Chaining Goals Yoga & Meditate 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 Sleep 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 Follow TV Rules 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 FL 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 No Dairy 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 No Alcohol 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 <90oz water 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 Combo Goals Strong Lifts 6 18 18 Accessory 12 Zombies Run 18 Fun Workout 18 Restorative Yoga 18 One Shot Goals Meal Prep For Next Week 10 Ranger Mini 10 Foam Roll 2x/week 10 <1 Eating out 10 Laundry Done 10 IF 2x/Week 10 Daily Totals 13 26 39 39 39 39 39 60 Grand Total 294 % Completed 100%

Goal 1: Stop eating like a jerk. While it is not a measurable goal, it is by far my most challenging. To make it interesting, if I DO eat like a jerk, I will post it here. Not to be made fun of, but because I hope that the act of having to post it will keep me from eating it. For example: if the husband brings home a macro-friendly dark chocolate bar for us to split, that is not eating like a jerk. If I stop and buy a king sized Reece's cup on the way home, that IS eating like a jerk. I promise to be honest. Goal 2: Lots of folks have been great about giving advice regarding my hip discomfort. I have even found several exercises that seem to work. Yet I do not do them consistently. Why? Dunno. So it gets its own goal. I need to get this crap handled so that I can get back to being awesome. Goal 3: Keep lifting. 3x per week. Starting numbers, pounds: Squat - nope OHP - 95 Bench - 135 (that feels so good to type!) DB Row - 60 DL - 210 Let's see where we end up! LUYL: Well, it's really fitness goal. I feel like I am nearing the point where I need to leave stronglifts for something else. I need to figure out where to go from here. That, of course, requires copious amounts of lurking, google-fu, discussion questing. I'd like to have done a fair amount of that research accomplished and at least an idea by the end of May. (Another non-measurable goal. This challenge is rife with them.)

World 3: Neverland - Learn to Fly “You’re Peter? My great and worthy opponent? No! Smee, who is this imposter?” “Give me time! I’ll get him in shape and you can have your war.” “Two months.” “Four. Bare minimum for a decent Pan.” “Three… final offer!” “Done!” “And you’d better deliver, Miss Bell, or no amount of clapping will bring you back from where I’ll send you.” “Hear me, men! For reasons of good form, I have decided that the so-called Pan will return in three months to commit the arbitrament of the sword. Smee, translate.” “In three months we’re gonna have a war! A battle between good and evil to the death!” Training with Rufio Game 1: Never-Feast Make 15+ meal-prepped meals 3 meals - 4/5 4 meals - 4/10 Game 2: Sling Shot Walk on rest days, preferably straight out of bed in a fasted state 4/5 4/9 Game 3: Goodnight, Neverland! In bed by 11pm with 8 hours of sleep 5+ times a week 4/6 4/10 4/11 And of course, my happy thought: How great I feel when I’ve eaten healthy and when I lift heavy things. How great I will feel without this excess weight; having the energy, strength and confidence to do the things I want to do. “Let the training begin!”

April is here ladies and gents, and I didn’t even take a break so I’m late to the proverbial party, but not the actual party. Like seriously, this is me vs the party right now There will be copious amounts of gifs and memes this challenge, because I have an unhealthy habit of finding a meme to answer everything. Always. I’m only gonna apologize once, and that was it. Right there. Just now. I was also gonna do measurements today - but shark week showed up and bloated me up like a whale and I’m not eeeeeven gonna do that kind of damage to my self-esteem by taking measurements like that. Or worse, give myself an over-inflated sense of success when I measure later and its skewed like I puked up Veronica Mars. ANYWAY. Onward! Quest One: Eat This, Not That [No, not the books y’all] I don’t have the aversion to healthy food that the poor cat above does.. But I do have an aversion to eating the same thing every day. I hate it. It bores me, and it makes trying to prep meals in advance no bueno. Like super no bueno. I prepped a weeks worth of breakfast burritos and lunches this past Sunday and I’m so OVER the chicken and veggies I made. Just.. no. Burritos I’m still holding strong to though, I think because they warmed up way better than the chicken ever did. Nevertheless, I’m still going to try and prep my food ahead of time. I think instead of batch cooking, I might try to include lunch prep into dinner prep. I can still pre-make two or three lunches as ‘back ups’ but at least this way its more variety. Breakfasts I’m fine with, though I’ll probably do less kale this time. I hate it when I find a rogue stem in there. Blech. Quest Two: Make My Miles Matter Spoiler Alert: That’s a pretty accurate depiction of me running. This is a continuation of my last quest where I’m slowly rangering my way through the states and down to my eventual goal of the Grand Cayman. Still super stoked. Still making it count. But I felt like by the end I was earning way too many miles for what felt like not enough effort. SO to combat that (I started feeling like a slacker) I’ve decided to amp up the workout schedule to really earn my distance. Instead of 20 miles per completed workout, I’m only earning 10. I’m also changing it up from my Stronglifts program Monday/Friday and trainer on Wednesday to include 15 minutes of cardio at the end of each Stronglifts in addition to doing the WOD on my trainer’s website Monday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday (Tuesdays/Sundays are my rest days - due to other adult-y stuff I have to do). I still get credit for mileage on my Garmin, even though the bastardly device doesn’t log my cardio on the bike #HUFF Quest Three: The Purge Pt. 2 At the end of my last challenge, I commented that my mother-in-law was doing a purge on all my kiddo’s clothes. I thought that was a genius idea this time of year so I’m TOTALLY stealing it. Last weekend I did our clothes and her closet (she won’t even notice all the missing stuff tbh, except she can see her closet floor now). This couple weeks I plan on getting lots of my home improvement stuff done around the house - which coincidentally includes getting rid of ALL the things. Right now my goal is to complete the following: Remove the doors on my above the sink cabinets to paint and add hardware (getting a feel for the paint before I commit to re-doing my entire kitchen) Host two garage sales to clear out additional clutter Clear the front left quadrant of my garage so I have ample gym space again Repurpose the old swing set in the backyard into THIS Considering I’ve got a camping event I’m coordinating and it’s happening in the middle of May… I’ve got quite a bit on my plate but I know my brother and his girlfriend are more than willing to help me tackle the house stuff because it benefits them too Right now I just hope life goes like this And not this

Between grad school, wedding planning, report cards, testing, and a million things, I had to sit February and March out. But it's spring! Days are longer! Snow is wetter and heavier! Green has begun to appear! And I am back for a new challenge (one which I have already started... shhh) Quest 1: STR ↑ I will attend the gym 3x or more a week. Days of the week will change, but I plan to do at least 2-3 days of Stronglifts and at least 1-2 days of cardio (Zombies Run!) Quest 2: Food LVL ↑ I am using Staci's level 1 lunch plan I already did it this week, but I have some ideas for how to make next week better. Anyway this goal is to do chicken, veggie, sweet potato lunches on work days. Quest 3: Hydration ↑ I don't drink enough water, so instead of complicated ounce goals that I will probably fail at, this one is simple: I will start each morning with a glass of water. Quest 4: LUYL I'm getting married this summer so there are so many fun things I could do for this! Unfortunately I am really disorganized and my formal observation is coming up this month. So my goal for this one is to clear off the long counter around my classroom and either organize its contents, or put them away, or discard them. That's all ETA: measurements:

The Introduction Hello, dearies! If you can't tell from the above gif, I have been watching a lot of Once Upon a Time lately. At first I thought of it as a guilty pleasure, but then I started to realize that this show is actually quite good. Modern takes on fairy tales, not only having kick-ass strong female characters but the entire cast essentially being strong female characters, having Disney characters being gay, amazingly creative costuming and makeup, and overall incredibly imaginative plots that totally switch everything up that you thought you knew about fairy tales is completely inspiring from all angles. I love how they address a lot of the issues with fairy tales and make fun of themselves too. (At one point, in reference to Beauty and the Beast someone says "not that I'm saying you should love someone who is keeping you prisoner, what kind of message would that send to girls everywhere?"). So refreshing. And don't even get me started on the villains. The characters and backstories they create are so imaginative I have a lot of respect for the writers who take something so old and used and turn it into something so fresh and exciting. Also, Snow White's character is SUCH A FRAKKIN RANGER IT'S RIDONKULOUS. So anyway, the more I thought about this the more I realized that in all honesty, fairy tales are quite nerdy. In fact, fairy tales were possibly one of the first things that were ever nerded out about. I started looking into the origins of modern fairy tales and discovered that the Brothers Grimm were some of the first fantasy nerds to really make a name for themselves. They didn’t *write* fairy tales. This would have made them authors, not necessarily nerds. But they were obsessed with the fantasy stories of German folklore, they not only wanted the story, but they became cultural explorers, researching at a collegic level the cultural affects and representations of folklore. They developed a methodology for collecting, recording, validating, and researching folklore. They not only were nerds, but they opened up a whole new area of study for others to nerd out about in the future. And at its core, they were fantasy stories! If that’s not nerdy, I don’t know what is. Also, for a lot of us fairy tales were the first kind of fantasy we were exposed to. Think back to the first time you heard a story that took you away to another place. When you were a tiny child, whether it be a movie, a radio broadcast, a TV show, a book. Chances are it was some sort of fairy tale (Disney-version or otherwise). As you grow up, you transition to stories that fit your likes, dislikes, and age. But at its core, fantasy and science fiction stories are really all their own kind of fairy tale. So here I present to you without further ado, a throwback from a way old school nerdom themed challenge with a modern twist – Once Upon A Time in Raxie’s Enchanted Forest.

Fellow Warriors, I wandered for a spell, trying to manage all the things and only eeking by! Most of 'all the things' started to manage me instead of the other way around. It took almost 1.5 years of wandering, but I am starting to manage my life again. My family and I have been able to check some big-ticket items off our list (part of 'all the things'), and I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel for the other 'things'. The biggest benefit to NF is that I can create goals and have them in front of me on a daily basis...this will be key in re-learning how to manage them all. I will be updating this more, when I have time (but before the challenge starts). But I wanted to say it's good to be back. I have been lurking for the bulk of the last challenge, and I am still in awe at the support that NF brings to the table! Hoping to get more involved this go at it! EDIT FOR GOALS: Goal 1: Go to the gym 3 times per week. I need to work on the core lifts, so I will be continuing SL 5x5 thru this challenge. As of Challenge kick-off I will be in Week 6. Grading: 12 visits (over the challenge) to the gym is a pass, less is a fail Goal 2: Do homework during the week. I have two graduate classes (one each on Mon/Tues nights) that give me a long day (between gym, work, quick family time, school) so I need to prioritize my evenings when I don't have class to do a little homework. This will give me more time with the family on the weekends, when the last thing I want to be doing is homework. Grading: 1-2 nights of HW per week between Wed-Fri is a pass, 0 nights during a week is a fail! Goal 3: Do some cardio, drop some weight. My overall goal is to lose about 50 lbs. But let's not try to eat that whole elephant at once (it's paleo, right?). I will be combining Cardio with my workouts at the gym and/or doing a little fun activities with the boys on the weekends to get some in. Grading: 12, 30 minute cardio sessions (over the challenge) is a pass, less is a fail LUYL: Get organized! We moved last June. Our place is much bigger now, and there are a lot of things that never see the light of day (the whole family is guilty of this). There are toys, games, clothes, trinkets, appliances, etc. that need to go to a better home. A little spring cleaning is in order! Grading: Hell if I know...

Hey folks, Chinchilling with the warriors for the March challenge and going for a minimalist theme (spoilers: there is no theme). Challenge #1 – Track all the Füds Looking to hit some daily macro goals and that means MFP-ing everything I eat for a month or so until I get a better handle on what eating that much protein and fiber looks like. Doing two meals a day, intermittent fasting makes tracking easier, but cooking most meals paleo from scratch does not. Challenge #2 – Track all the Progress Did Stronglifts for a decent while and my eventual plateau was more form related than the end of newb gainz. I switched to circuits for a bit to tighten my form on lighter weights, now I’m starting Stronglifts again with intermediate numbers. Round 1 of stronglifts saw me make fast newb gainz and also eat all the things to gleefully fuel my progress; I gained heaps of muscle and regained some fat. I quickly saw the scale alone was inadequate to track my progress, but I didn’t bother with body fat % or measurements. This time I’ll be recording weight, skin fold, and measurements every Thursday morning. As a bonus, I'll be posting workout results to keep up with a sidekick. LUYL – Track all the Monies Starting a new job in mid-March and that includes a new budget. I’ll be categorizing every transaction I process through debit/credit cards that same day in Mint. Not the sexiest goal but somebody gots to do it.

I'm back! Last challenge my life took a turn for the crazy. My classes started getting really time consuming, I got more responsibilities piled on me at my job, I went on vacation, and my family life got a little hectic. All this resulted in me, for the first time since joining the rebellion 17 wonderful/crazy/difficult challenges ago, having to step away from the forums for a few weeks and settle back into my life. I missed you all terribly, there were so many times I’d be like “oh I can’t wait to tell the nerds!†and then I’d remember I had to use my time doing other things. NF has become such an engrained part of my life it was really hard for me to just take a beat and work things out on my own. But I did, I have finally gotten used to the new pace of my life which seems it is here to stay, and am feeling refreshed from both my vacation and my challenge hiatus. So I’m feeling super motivated to tackle this new challenge. This challenge will be focused around my weekends. I have noticed that a lot of times I am unsuccessful during the week because I am not taking advantage of my weekends adequately. So I’m going to make all of my goals weekend oriented. If I set myself up for success, it’ll be hard to fail. I am definitely guilty of wasting entire Saturdays away doing basically nothing because I am not planning it out. I plan my weekdays every week now it’s time to plan my weekends too for MAXIMUM SUCCESS! Main Mission One: Move Weird I will utilize the weekends to do some fun movement that I don’t have a chance to do during the week. This can be an intense mobility session, restorative yoga, a hike, a ruck, or anything else of that nature. Main Mission Two: Homework I will do all my homework every weekend no matter what. I will not leave it for the weekdays. This has been something that’s been holding me back on weekdays a lot. I have plenty of time on weekends to do it, I’ve just got to get it done. Main Mission Three: Laundry Self-explanatory. I’ll wash, dry and PUT AWAY (seriously Raxie, put your damn clothes away) at least one load of laundry every weekend. Food Mission: Batch Cooking Every weekend I will prep all of my meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner) for Monday-Friday of the upcoming week. I will post pictures here of my success each week for accountability and because nom. Life Mission: Nerd Fitness Because part of the reason I had to step away from the forums last challenge was due to not enough time, I will make sure to dedicate a chunk of time every weekend to catching up around here and commenting on all the threads I am following. And there it is. I’m gonna ranger my weekends for serial! Oh also, PS – I recently crossed something off my 2016 yearly goals. I paid off my credit card! Wohoooo! It’s crazy how it really wasn’t hard to do once I decided to do it. Making the minimum payment each month was so easy, but once I forced myself to buckle down, stop charging to it, and live a little more frugally to put more money towards, and also not spending my tax return on things but instead on my future by throwing a large chunk towards this as well… I was able to 100% pay off all 3 of my cards, not just my Discover card which was actually my goal of the year. Feeling really great about this.

World 2: The Capitol - Train for Survival 02.29.16 - 03.25.16 Target 1: Improve survival skills (work out 30+ minutes 10 times) Target 2: Eat for strength (track food/water intake 15 days on MFP) Target 3: Rest while I can (be in bed by 11pm 15 nights) Bonus: Stay flexible (stretch and hang 15 times) Starting stats (02.29.16): Weight: 189.2 lbs Body Fat: 35.5% Push Ups: 1 Pull Ups: 0 Progress Reports Target 1 Workouts Completed: 8/10 02.29 - Stronglifts 03.02 - Stronglifts 03.04 - Stronglifts 03.09 - Stronglifts 03.16 - Stronglifts (at gym!!) 03.19 - 3 hours of walking (totally counting it) 03.21 - Stronglifts 03.22 - 7 hours of walking (longest day ever) Target 2 Days Tracked: 9/15 03.01 03.02 03.07 03.08 03.09 03.16 03.19 03.21 03.22 Target 3 Good Night’s Sleep: 12/15 03.02 03.03 03.06 03.09 03.10 03.11 03.13 03.14 03.16 03.18 03.19 03.22 Bonuses Stretch: 6/15 Hang: 0/15 I wasn’t sure which guild to post this in. I’m kind of half warrior, half assassin and half adventurer. And 150% indecisive. I don’t know what I want. NO, I do not want a sugar cube. This is going to be a crazy month for me. I’ve finally started seriously looking for a job (just moved to Texas last month). I’ll have another biology exam near the end, and a lab practical in the middle. And I’m finally starting Stronglifts 5x5 (kind of), which I’ve wanted to do for a long time but always made excuses. Right now I’m stuck with dumbbells, a pull up bar and a bench made of strips of foam wrapped in a yoga mat. No, I’m not kidding. I’ll post pics. So yeah, because of Stronglifts and how excited I am to see how much more I can lift by the end, I’ve decided to make this a warrior challenge. And Hunger Games themed because I can. It’s from Katniss’ point of view, but let’s be honest. I’m here for the Effie Trinket gifs. Starting weights: Squat: 20 lbs Deadlift: 20 lbs Bench Press: 20 lbs (Though I could probably do 30, I just need to buy heavier dumbbells) Overhead Press: 10 lbs Row: 20 lbs Same rules as always. I have to complete all targets in order to defeat this world and move onto the next. The bonus is optional, it does not affect whether I pass.

Ahh...March. My goals remain the same: Continue linear progression on Stronglifts. Be smart and don't hurt myself. Log workouts here. 3x per week. May try out power cleans, we'll see. Track my (insert word of your choice for emphasis) food. A walk really won't kill me. It's nice out, now. Birds are chirping, flowers are poking up. Walk. Just, walk. Log it here when I do - even if I don't have time for a proper update. LUYL This one is harder. I have a goal, but my real life stuff doesn't always belong on the internet. So...very generally speaking, I need to avoid the toxicity that has reared up in one part of my life. I need to compartmentalize so that the toxicity that is unavoidable doesn't take over. For example, if I'm on a date with my husband, I need to be present and not worrying about that crap. Not sure how I will track this, but February just about drove me nuts, so hopefully having this as a goal will remind me to let it go. ***One small exception - in true warrior fashion, it's okay if my rage fuels a really good workout.

My Pokemon and I have journeyed far and wide through Kanto collecting 8 badges, honed our skills in preparation for the Elite 4, made our way to the Indigo Plateau to defeat four of the region's top trainers and finally stand before the ultimate challenge, the Champion of the Indigo League. Oops! Charizard knocked out all my Pokemon! (I tore a tendon in my knee during my first Krav Maga Class). Alternate challenge: Pidgeot - mobility every day, alternating between feet and shoulders. Maybe look up some videos of exercises for the neck and wrists, since I'll be spending a lot of time drawing in an armchair with a laptop on my lap rather than my ergonomic desk, which isn't as good for my knee. Writing up workouts tomorrow. Gyarados - 3x seated aerobics per week. I'll try out some videos until I find one I like. My workout buddy has agreed to join me for some of these so we'll connect a computer to the big TV screen and pretend we're in the gym. Otherwise I should be able to do them in my room in the morning. Rhydon - 2x strength workout per week. Once I can get someone to bring me a pair of 5kg dumbbells from the shed. I can do rows, overhead press, seated deadlifts (are apparently a thing), bench press, bicep curls. They'll be too heavy for rotator cuff exercises but I could use cans of soup - I got that idea from one of the low mobility workout videos "And now… I am the POKEMON LEAGUE CHAMPION! BITTEROYSTER! Do you know what that means? I'll tell you. I am the most powerful Trainer in the world!" I had this planned out from way back that the Champion's six Pokemon would correspond to six weeks of the challenge, but since it's four weeks now I'm upping the ante and taking them all on - each Pokemon represents a quest. This is more than recommended but I'm confident that they're achievable goals. To reflect the magnitude of the end of my Pokemon journey, I'll do this for two consecutive challenges, with a small increase in difficulty if I do well. Rhydon - Fitness #1, Strength Training Not going to mess with success - keeping up my routine of 2 Stronglifts workouts and one Pump class per week. Charizard - Fitness #2, Krav Maga I've paid for three trial classes and I'll do one per week with one free week in case I need a recovery. Gyarados - Fitness #3, Swimming/other Use the gym at least one other time per week, usually for swimming but can include Yoga or other classes. Pidgeot - Life #1, Drawing Draw at least two things every day - one drawing copied from a real life object (plant, cat, person, landscape etc) and one drawing out of my head. Sorry to say I won't be uploading these as I've found in the past this becomes a barrier to actually doing the drawing, but I might post one or two. Alakazam - Life #2, Light Screen No backlit screens for one hour before bed. Instead, tidy up, play with the cats, read a book or Kindle, draw on paper, anything without a backlit screen. Exeggutor - Life #3, Relaxation Relaxation meditation at least once a week before bed. Rather than trying to make a regular habit I'm curious to see what happens if I don't meditate daily, but put aside more time for it when I do. Quality over quantity. Bring it on!

Pre-Challenge Spiel So my previous challenge was meant to reset my body and my mind for the upcoming year. It did that to an extent. It forced to make more time for myself in my busy (and getting busier) schedule and also to really focus on what I am putting into my body. I have upped my water intake significantly and aside from slipping up on a business trip week, did not drink alcohol for the whole month of January. I feel pretty great and refreshed and am so ready to start hitting things hard again! But going hard is uh... hard. For those of you who haven't been following me, I had a hip pre-injury (not quite an injury but a pain that told me to stop what I was doing and figure it out or an injury would basically be guaranteed to happen) and got pretty freaked out about it. My sister has serious hip problems (she is 20 and has already had to have hip surgery) so I took this very seriously. I figured out my issues were a result of glute amnesia - my glutes were not doing the work they were supposed to during DL and squats, and allowing my hip flexors to do all the work. Hip flexors are tiny muscles, they are not supposed to be taking on so much stress! But my glutes just werne't firing. I essentially put a halt on my lifting program and spent the last 6-ish weeks (basically ever since the end of the challenge of 2015) doing connectivity drills I learned at Camp Nerd Fitness from the lovely Kate Galliett and also some other glute strengthening isolation drills I found online. I also began doing a lot of core exercises to help protect my lower back from the same fate. Apparently lower backs are over acheivers too. Plus, core strength = better everything so why not? Anyway, I'm now feeling pretty confident with my glute amnesia being banished (I notice them firing when I walk and go up steps and basically do anything, and I even had a dream about squats where I noticed my glutes activating properly so they've definitely finally decided they want to do some work) and it is time for me to return to Strong Lifts! I'm going to have to deload a bunch, but I am so pumped to get back at this. I am also taking 2 classes as well as working full time. Typically I take one class but this semester I decided to really lean forward on my degree. Wow was it a lot more to take on than I expected. Basically, between beginning SL again, wanting to maintain my occasional glute activation drills an dother mobility drills, continuing to make sure my core gets some love, keeping up with my classes, my job exploding more and more and wanting to keep up with you nerds as much as possible because you are THE BEST I need to seriously work on my time allocation. Unfortunately I do not have a time turner to get more hours from my day. I know what I need to do, and what I want to do. I have the motivation and the habits. What I need to do now is take both of those and be flexible with my schedule in order to get in everything I want. So this challenge won't have very complicated goals from the outset, but each week will be treated individually depending on what I've got going on, work travel, homework, etc. I'm going to continue with the Fly Lady baby steps as well and hopefully finish out all 31 by the end of this challenge but if I get held up on a specific day again that's fine. I want to integrate this into my life slowly so it sticks. I'm currently on day 15 - and have been for about a week now. Main Goals 1. Every Sunday or Monday I will post my schedule for the week to include major items that may affect my productivity on a given day for the next seven days (ie - class) and what I will be doing for each of those days BROKEN DOWN BY THE HOUR. This sounds crazy, I know, but I only have a few hours between when I get home from work (6PM) and when I need to get to bed (9/930PM) so I truly need to plan out how to utilize each of those minutes to get the most done I can without trying to do too much and blowing my bed time. Non-work days are a bit more flexible but I still want to list what I want to do on those days. This includes homework, cleaning tasks, meditation, reading, and of course work outs. 2. At least 3 times a week I will update my thread on my status of if I hit my to-do goals for each day. 3. Each week I need to fit in a core work out and a glute drill workout. This can be the same workout. (I won't do this if I don't make it a separate goal). Food Goal 4. Continue to not eat dairy. 1 minor slip up a week is allowed (ie some melted cheese on some meat. Eating 1017 cheese cubes from an appetizer tray does not count as a "minor" slip up). Life Goal 5. Sleep at least 7 hours a night. No on average, but actually legit, 7 hours a night. This will prevent me from expecting too much of myself in (1) and (2) above. My final grade will be based 20% on the success of each of the above. Planning, execution, special work outs, dairy consumption, and sleep. Goal 2 (posting updates) will be half based on posting 3x/week and half based on actual completion of my schedule items. I'm aware this is going to be quite the strict challenge with no bells and whistles but I needs it. Bad. SELF DICIPLINE FTW! Also, I've made the commitment to watch through Xena. Girl power also FTW! I debated making this challenge Xena themed but I didn't have time. I'd rather spend my time making my rounds here than thinking up a way to make this challenge more themed....but feel free to post Xena gifs as they will bring me joy

Greetings, Nerds. My quests are basically a copy of last month. Lift 3 x per week. Post numbers here. Continue to follow stronglifts with DB row modification. Lift smart and deload or repeat when poor form or ROM occurs. Last challenge I earned a perfect score on working out, so I think that lifting is my jam. Oh, hot Food. Last time I completely failed my tracking challenge. So I am trying again. (Once more, with feeling?) Walking. I mean, it's just one darn foot in front of the other - WHY CAN'T I MAKE THIS A HABIT? I desperately need cardio in my life. I have considered hitting the gym on T/Th mornings for cardio, since early+gym is already a habit. The husband is willing to accompany, I just...I just need to grow up and do the thing. But I kinda just...don't wanna. So...I will walk TWO times per week. 5 minutes or more. I will substitute cardio at the gym for this at least one time. LUYL: I am hoping to do the NF WL competition and the preparatory minis - I am just awaiting the details. So there you have it.

Well I had a lot of fun and did pretty well on my first challenge and I am back for round 2. Goal: My goal is to lose 12 lbs over the course of this challenge. In order to do this I will have to disregard the life lessons that I have from one of this generation's greatest minds. Quest 1: Workout 6 days per week. I will be doing the Stronglifts 5x5 program three days per week, working with my trainer 1 day a week and doing steady state cardio on the elliptical 2 days per week. Quest 2: I will eat vegetables with at least one meal every day. Quest 3: No fast food. If it has a drive through than I don't eat there. Quest 4: Innkeeping. I will clean my apartment for at least 10 minutes every day. I got off to a good start with this on my first challenge, but I really lost track of it during the second half. I have to make this a priority before relaxing. Grading: All 4 quests will be based on the following scale based on their completion rate. 90% - 100% - A 80% - 89% - B 70% - 79% - C 60% - 69% - D 59% and below - F

Hello everyone I've been an assassin for my last several challenges, but I am here to work on getting a steady diet of iron in my workouts. Main Quest: I'm getting married in July and I would like to fit into my wedding dress. Steady relationship weight and the holidays have not been kind to me and I need to get into some sustainable habits that will allow me to hopefully drop some body fat before the big day. I think 20 lbs is not unreasonable. Quest 1: Go to the gym & lift weights 3x a week. I have some trainer appointments to use up, and then my fiancee and I are doing Stronglifts 5x5 on the other days. The plan is Monday, Wednesday, & Saturday and we've done pretty well the past 2 weeks so far. Quest 2: Track food. I'm aiming to track every day, because I overeat when I'm not keeping track of what I eat. The focus this month is on compliance only, not calories or macros. Quest 3: Find and record at least 10 comforting activities that I can do whenever I feel sad or stressed out. I am the world's worst emotional eater, and I need non-food alternatives to big macs that I will be willing and able to substitute when I feel sad or lonely or anxious. LUYL: I have one class left in my grad school program, and it ends on January 31st. If I can get through it, I will be done with my MS. That is all I want for this month.

Who is Archon? I joined NF 2 weeks before the June 2015 6WC started. At that point, I was 1 week into a new workout routine, and 3 weeks into attempting to eat better. There are links to my introduction and my previous challenges in my sig below. Feel free to rummage around there. Summary: I’ve gone from 277 lbs at the end of January 2015 down to 240 now, dropping from around 33% body fat down to 24%. For a long time I was hanging out with the adventurers as my primary goal was weight loss, but I have now transitioned into a more balanced fitness & wellness routine and am looking to get to know the rangers. What does he want? My original goal was to lose 60 lbs from 1/1/15 to 1/1/16, but my ultimate long-term weight loss goal is to get down to 16% body fat (which will be somewhere between 213 & 217 lbs for me.) What is his focus & motivation? For several months now my primary goal has been on weight loss. I am not content yet with where my weight is, but last challenge I started to slowly transition into my long-term goal of getting stronger. I was terrified of lifting weights because I had never done it. I have been doing the Stronglifts program 3 days a week from Nov 1st through December here. My motivation is that I want to get back into the shape I was in in my profile pic and then not stop there. That was taken when I was 17 years old, 12 years ago now. When I was in my "wrestling physique". Back then I used to do 2-3 hours of body weight training a day, for several years. I never had much muscle bulk because I never lifted, but I do miss being lean and I definitely want to get strong & have muscle definition (so I look better nude). Starting Stats: As of 1/4/16, Weight: 239.4 lbs, Body Fat: 25.0% Challenge #5 Goal 1 - Food for fuel - For me, results are more important than short-term pleasures. So no: desserts, candy, or drinking during this challenge. Goal 2 - Sleep for fuel - Minimum of 7.5 hours in bed a night (from time climbing into bed until alarm goes off). Allowing for exceptions on nights when playing evening racquetball keeps me up too late with my evening routine. Goal 3 - 5x5 Stronglifts (maintain habit developed in challenge 4) - Do 12 workouts during the challenge. Goal 4 - Yoga (maintain habit developed in challenge 4) - Do yoga every night. Flexibility is one of my greatest weaknesses. I did Yoga with my last challenge (along with weightlifting, both) for the first time ever and loved it. I feel like I am more mindful of my posture & breathing as a result (including during workouts). I want to continue doing this. In the future I may push myself to "level-up" my yoga, however, for right now I am content with maintaining the habit of doing 10-20 minutes of yoga every night right before bed. Goal 5 - Meditate (new skill) - I have done very minimal amounts of meditating in the past and I want to try out committing to doing it for a challenge. (Doing 30 days in a row was actually 1 item on my epic quest list from several months ago). I am not sure if this is something I will maintain, going forward into 2016, but it is something I want to try out. Goal 6 - Foam Roll (new habit) - Spend 5-10 minutes before bed every night doing Foam Rolling (I just got my foam roller before the holidays). Goal 7 - Handstands (new skill) - There was an old article I found on Nerd Fitness about doing handstands. I am going to dedicated 10 minutes each night towards developing this skill. 1 minute on, 1 minute off, 5 times, every night. I have already done research on the progression. Minis Week 1 - Stamina - Spend 30+ minutes walking each day this week. (Did not do) Week 2 - Strength - Add extra warm-up & cool-down sets before & after each exercise during my weight lifting workouts. (Done. And it will now be a permanent thing going forward. Added somewhere between 20-50% more volume to my total workouts.) Week 3 - Ranger Feat - Meal Prep, cook at least 3 non-breakfast meals this week. (2/3 done as of Friday afternoon, just need to make 1 over the weekend). Week 4 - Agility - Do two yoga videos each day of the week instead of just one.

'Yo! Champ in making! At POKEMON LEAGUE, you have to face the ELITE FOUR in succession. If you lose, you have to start all over again! This is it! Go for it!' Lorelei: Ice Type 'Welcome to POKEMON LEAGUE! I am LORELEI of the ELITE FOUR! No one can best me when it comes to icy POKEMON! Freezing moves are powerful! Your POKEMON will be at my mercy when they are frozen solid! Hahaha! Are you ready?' Quest #1: Don't Freeze Up (Mobility) - 5min flow every morning - Shoulder mobility twice a week Critical hit: attend Body Balance (yoga/pilates/Tai Chi mix) class Bruno: Fighting Type 'I am BRUNO of the ELITE FOUR! Through rigorous training, people and POKEMON can become stronger! I've weight trained with my POKEMON! BITTEROYSTER! We will grind you down with our superior power! Hoo hah!' Quest #2: Superior Power (Strength training) - Body Pump once a week - Stronglifts twice a week Critical hit: see a physiotherapist Lance: Dragon Type 'I lead the ELITE FOUR! You can call me LANCE the dragon trainer! You know that dragons are mythical POKEMON! They're hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior! They're virtually indestructible! Well, are you ready to lose? Your LEAGUE challenge ends with me, BITTEROYSTER!' Quest #3: Dragonfire (Coping with hot weather) - Put one iced tea and one electrolyte drink in the fridge each night for the next day - Keep an eye on the weather and don't be an idiot when it's hot Critical hit: don't get sunburned Agatha: Ghost Type 'I am AGATHA of the ELITE FOUR! OAK's taken a lot of interest in you, child! That old duff was once tough and handsome! That was decades ago! Now he just wants to fiddle with his POKEDEX! He's wrong! POKEMON are for fighting! BITTEROYSTER! I'll show you how a real trainer fights!' Life Quest: Hypnosis (Improving sleep) - Get up at 8am or earlier - Go to bed before midnight Computer off at 11pm, in bed by 11:30 Critical hit: find some good fiction to read before bed Week 1 5min Flow: 5/6 Shoulder mobility: 2/2 Strength: 2/3 Drinks: 4/6 Sleep: B Overall: 13/17 Week 2 5min Flow: 6/7 Shoulder mobility: 2/2 Strength: 3/3 Drinks: 6/7 Sleep: B Overall: 15/17 Week 3 5min Flow: 7/7 Shoulder mobility: 1/2 Strength: 3/3 Drinks: 6/7 Sleep: B Overall: 15/17 Week 4 5min Flow: 4/7 Shoulder mobility: 1/2 Strength: 3/3 Drinks: 5/7 Sleep: C Overall: 13/17 All up: 56/68 or 80%

Main Quest: My main quest has taken on a new form. After the end of the previous challenge, I made a roadmap for 2016. It encompasses my goals for 2016. All my challenges for this year will be geared toward getting me closer to those goals. This is the first challenge of the year and it follows a fairly undisciplined winter break. I need to get on some solid footing during this challenge. Luckily, the challenge is only 26 days long so I don't really feel like I am 'wasting' a challenge. The format for the last challenge worked really well for me. And I have found my spirit animal in Wonder Woman so I will be continuing the same format. The following will serve as my foundational goals. Not all of them are graded. In addition, each week I will Face-Off against a villain, represented by another rebel where I will declare additional goals that push me beyond the foundations. Bulletproof Bracelets These serve as a defense for both Wonder Woman and her foes. In order to keep them in working order I need to stay within the ‘sweet spot’ under 1600 calories. I also need to manage variances better. I struggled with this for all of last year. I think the key is to allow for more variances but to keep them small. This might take some experimentation. 1 small variance per week that doesn't undo any progress for that week would not be a problem. I just need to figure out where the line between a small variance and a big variance is. There is 1 exception for LordShello's birthday during this challenge. Amazonian Strength She’s an Amazonian princess for crying out loud. It's time to step up here and channel that Amazonian strength. I want to start StrongLifts but I am not ready to commit to running to the gym three times a week. I've grown accustomed to doing my workouts at home and I think this will be a tough transition. For my strength foundation I need to at least do 3 strength workouts a week. I have primarily been doing Shovelglove at home but this should be more of a warmup to some other workout. I'm going to set up a session with my trainer to get started on lifting. We've worked out a schedule that should allow me to go to the gym on Wed, Fridays, and Sundays. I would love for the 3 workouts a week to be at the gym with some pushups for a warmup. That would get me an A but at least doing something at home would get me a C Lasso of Truth This was how Wonder Woman got shit done. For this goal I will work on conditioning. I have some races to train for this year. I had trouble keeping up with this once winter started. I've got some new gear to test out now. For a foundation I want to get out and do some cardio or endurance training 3 days a week. This will balance out with the 3 days of strength training and give me 1 rest day. At a minimum, I want to ruck the route by my house. Doing this 3 times a week would get my just over 5 miles. It's not a ton but I'll use the Face Off goals to push this even further. Tiara Did I mention Wonder Woman was a princess? Princesses have to be the best they can be and I have a list of things I want to improve on. There are two many goals on my roadmap to accomplish in one challenge so I've had to edit my RangerBrain a little here. For this challenge I want to focus on the following goals: Read the Konmari book on tidying up. This will get me started on the tidy and organized house goal and the reading goal. It might even help with getting enough sleepTry FlyLady again. I liked the program last time but I had a hard time making it fit my lifestyle. I want to give it another try and not be afraid to modify it to fit my needs. Even doing something it better than nothing. Stretching and foam rolling. If I am going to increase my strength workouts let's try not to get too sore or injured. Just do it. Villain Face-Off Battle Last challenge Wonder Woman battled many of her villains. Now she is ready to take on more. This time she'll be helping out the Justice League battle theirs. This challenge's Face-Offs will feature The Injustice League Villains. Each Sunday Wonder Woman will encounter a randomly selected villain by a roll of the dice. Each villain is represented by another NF rebel. In order to win the battle against the villain, I will need to declare 2 additional goals from the 4 goal categories above and compete against the supervillain’s own goals. I will declare my goals at the beginning of the week once the villain is selected and challenge my fellow rebel to set their goals. Highest score or closest to 100% wins the Face-Off. 1 stat point awarded for every Wonder Woman win and whichever skill best matches the goal category. I’ll be posting the villain sign up sheet shortly so if you are interested in a Face-off battle, stay tuned.

I recently followed someone else's lead and made a plan for 2016. These are the goals I want to accomplish during the year. They are intentionally not SMART goals. All of my challenges in 2016 will be aiming for the goals laid out here by setting smaller SMART goals along the way. This will serve as a dedicated place to keep track of my progress. So here are my goals for 2016 Or you can jump right into 2017 1. Get weight under 200, even better 180, or bf under 25% a. Stabilize meals. I've gotten into the habit again of weekly variances. They tend to be big variances that undo all the work I've done and I end up trying to outrun my fork. I need to incorporate smaller variances more often rather than have big variances. Other than birthday dinners and a few holiday dinners, I would rather be evenkeel with eating b. Follow macros but adjust as needed to fit fitness plan 2. Badassery. It's time to level up again. a. Conditioning. There are three events in 2016 that I will be specifically training for. 1. GoRuck in July 2. 5K in August 3. HammerRace in October. b. Strength. I need to make this a priority. It will help me lose the rest of the fat, reach BAMF level, and help prepare for my events. 1. Start some lifting with the barbell. I've put it off too long and let my anxiety increase. 2. Work on pushups. I can barely do a regular pushup. I want to move from incline pushups to real pushups and be able to do a least a set of 25. 3. Pullups. I would feel pretty badass if I could do a single pull up by the end of the year. 3. Be the Best Me a. Read more. Fiction, non-fiction, classics, anything. b. Keep a clean house, routinely. c. Be anti-fragile. Be Smart, don't get injured. Don't forget the stretchy bits. d. Balance - basically mentally anti-fragile. relax, be kind to myself and others, be positive, and be productive. This to this to this

Hi, everybody! After 6 challenges, I am finally starting a battle log to have somewhere to log in between challenges. I really like the challenge format, so I will almost certainly go back to that, but I have come to rely on my interactions here on NF, and this seems like a reasonable alternative. I am in week 4 of SL. Loving it. So...Today's workout: (Everything is in pounds) Squats: 2 x 5 @ BW 2 x 5 @ 45 5 x 5 @ 90 OHP: 2 x 5 @ 45 2 x 5 @ 65 DL: 1 x 5 RDL @ 45 only 1 b/c I forgot. So after loading the bar, I ran over and grabbed an empty, but felt greedy (even though by that point no one else was lifting barbells), so I just did the one set. 1 x 5 @ 115 Hang for time (Which I am now calling "Dead Hang" because it sounds waaaaaaaaaaaaaay cooler) Dead Hang: 1 @ 40 seconds 1 @ 35 seconds 1 @ 39 seconds My best effort, by far! Probably because we got to talking after the 2nd set, so I had a much longer break than my usual 90 seconds - might have been 4 minutes. Perhaps a lesson there... Thoughts: OHP: Oh, so THAT'S what everyone means when they say their set was "grindy". Uh-huh. Don't OHP again until Monday; not switching to microplates until I fail 3 workouts in a row, and I did not fail today! I'm hoping that I have more in reserve, and that I am just learning how to work hard, but I will switch to microplates as soon as I need to - not too much ego about it, here. They are just so darn fun!DL. Felt the entire body on these, today. Felt awesome! Maybe the weight is getting heavy enough so that I need to work harder? I don't know, but it was very satisfying. Squat: Starting to really feel the weight. The first set was heavy. The entire fourth set was tough, and the fifth rep of the fifth set was tough. I never felt like I was going to fail. Just felt heavy. And slow. Squat: Probably time to practice bailing out of a lift. The dudes at the gym need a good laugh, why not. I squat in a cage, so while I technically could have the husband spot me from behind, it seems far, far safer (plus will look less obscene to the rest of the lifters in our teeny tiny gym) to just bail onto the safeties if I need to. Anyone have a good video tutorial on how to bail out of a squat? Had very poor sleep (both quality and quantity) last night - that may account for any or all of the comments above. tl;dr - Hi. I lifted some stuff today. Gonna keep doing it.

Firefox crashed and I lost my original post - so here's a quick rewrite of my third challenge. Goal 1: Beginning Stronglifts 5x5 - My first couple of challenges were building to this point. I've been going to the gym twice a week to make myself more comfortable in that environment, and less self conscious about my novice level around the folks that clearly have more experience. During the last challenge I practiced the Stronglifts workouts using just the bar during every other gym session. Now I'm going to step it up to three times a week, doing a Stronglifts session every time I'm at the gym. I will be tracking this using the Stronglifts app. Stat points available to earn: 4 STR Goal 2: Nerve flossing - For as long as I can remember I haven't been able to touch my toes because of a pain behind my knees when stretching, and I've always been told it's because my hamstrings are too tight. I can barely keep them extended straight when sitting upright on the floor. Even several months of stretching before martial arts classes only barely helped. Eventually I realized that my hamstrings were not the part of my leg that hurt when I was stretching, so I started dong some digging on the web. As far as I can tell it's a tight, or impacted, or trapped nerve in the posterior knee in both legs. I'm guessing the sciatic nerve (though I don't think I have sciatica). So this is pretty much an experiment to see if some nerve flossing routines can help alleviate that pain, with the future goal of working on my overall flexibility. These are the two nerve flossing exercises I will practice: I will set reminders on my phone to complete a set of each twice a day. Has anyone ever done this before, and if so did it help? If you have questions about this or suggestions I'd like to hear them! I'm not entirely sure how to evaluate whether or not this was successful, as it's self diagnosis and might not be dealing with the actual problem at all. So for this goal I'll measure whether or not I complete the process, rather than any gains in flexibility. Stat points available to earn: 4 DEX Goal 3: Hydrate - I will drink a liter of water first thing in the morning to help wake up and stay hydrated. I pretty much only drink water, coffee, and tea. But lately water has been the least of those, and I'd like it to be my main drink of choice. Stat points available to earn: 4 CON Goal 4: Read - I have six books to finish before the challenge is up, some of which have been lent to me. I'd like to return them before the year is out. This shouldn't be too difficult, especially if I maintain at least one book every week. Stat points available to earn: 3 WIS I'm also on the Green Team for the mini challenges, so I'll be participating in those when I can during the six weeks. Stay on target!