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So I currently have less than 3 weeks until I leave for my trip to Italy, I am going to try to lose a little over 1lb a week in order to get to the goal of 180(180.whatever works too) before I head to pasta land In order to get this done I will be focusing on 3 things... Meals: Prep all breakfasts and lunches using the containers that help with portion sizes, and plan all dinners in advance including my 1 "cheat meal" which can be anything but must be portioned well. Training: I am doing a 15 day HIIT challenge starting in 2 days (along with my usual training), after that I will make sure I do 2 days of cardio for at least 45 min (stair master, max trainer, low impact) per week, and 25 min on the stair master after every normal workout. Culture Crash Course: I failed at properly preparing for this trip language wise, time to focus and get as much learning in as possible. Italian lessons every day until the trip, with at least a solid 30 min to an hour on weekends. I will be posting updates daily for accountability on meals (which start on Saturday since I have my catered stuff until Friday), and language. Starting Weight 185.4

If you have never seen Stephen King's cocaine inspired masterpiece "Maximum Overdrive." You really should. It is next level bonkers. If you don't enjoy watching terrible movies but like making fun of them "How Did This Get Made?" did a great episode about it. Bonus points for Andy Daly involvement. The goals this time around are: 1. Nutrition and Recomposition I hired a nutrition coach at the beginning of February to help me lose body fat and drop down a weight class. I started at 224, which represents the heaviest but also muscliest I have ever been. I would estimate about 38% BF based on tape measurements. Today I am 213 and I have lost 1" off my hips and 0.5" off my thighs. I am very happy with that progress. Long term goal is to compete in the 198 weight class, so in terms of nutrition plan I just keep eating what she tells me to eat. 2. Hypertrophy Mesocycle I am going to compete in a PL meet June 17th (also my 5th wedding anniversary, husband has mixed feelings about this). Starting a new 12 week prep cycle so the first 4 weeks is hypertrophy city. I have the next month planned out as 65-80% range with lots of reps. I am well aware that actual muscle growth while on a cut/recomposition/deficit will be minimal. If I can maintain my strength and still hit the same numbers after dropping 2 weight classes I will consider that a smashing success. 3. Pharmacy Career Goals I found out yesterday that I did not match with any residency programs. This really bummed me out because I liked the places I interviewed with, and I thought they liked me and would rank me high on their list of candidates. Alas, only 60% of candidates will be accepted to a program because there are 7000+ people fighting for 2500 hundred spots nationwide. The good news is there is a "Phase 2" second attempt for all the people like me to match with a program with unfilled positions. There are 140 spots left. So there is still a chance but the odds are even worse. And we have 3 weeks to scout the remaining options and submit all our application materials again. So yeah.

So as the title states, I have FINALLY sold my house... as in I just got notification that I am richer 5 min ago I also have my competition in a week and a half, and I am starting to feel the nervousness of it creeping in. This challenge will be a bit wonky due to the comp happening, and then me changing things up afterwards to recover properly and then start losing some body fat. Dec 1-10 Goals 1. Hydrate and keep up with protein. - minimum of 66oz of water and a minimum of 160 g of protein a day (OMG, thats a lot of chicken) 2. Train smart the week of, last heavy day will be Tuesday, Wed/Thur/Fri will be mobility, light weight, stretching, ect only. 3. Have fun at the competition! I have worked hard and made some serious gains on weights... I can now overhead press 140, and farmer DL 350. Weather or not I get pwned or throw out some ownage myself I will have a positive attitude and figure out if this is something I want to continue doing (at least competition wise, not giving up all together... F that noise). Post Dec 10 Goals 1. Let your broken self heal. I am horrible at this thing called "resting". I need to make sure my body heals/is rested before I go back to being a badass. 2. Track everything, and match your cut macros from nutritionist, keep drinking all the water. (Christmas will be my cheat day besides 1 weekly cheat meal) @RedStone I may be hitting you up again for accountability! 3. Start adding cardio.... DUN DUN DUN! (There would be a gif here but work interwebs are crappy atm).

I thought about actually running this challenge in the druid thread, but I really like it here and my main focus is still my strongman comp in Dec. This will be more like a lady dwarf scampering happily through the woods with her battleaxe noticing the cute animals and pretty flowers, but really she is just terrorizing everything in her path without noticing. I decided to add some druid traits this time around because I feel like I have my weight training down, and to keep focusing on that is kind of cheating. I will continue to log my weight workouts here, but that will not be a goal this time around. Goals! Focus: Focus more on the good, and less on the uncontrollable. This month I will start using my new planner which focuses more on life goals than what meetings I have for the week. I think this will help me focus more on the important things, and less on the dreary things I have no control over. Calm: Find ways to enhance my daily calm. Clean bedroom and guest room, enjoy the outside while it's actually nice out, notice the small things that make you happy throughout the day. Balance: Balance out the heavy lifting with more walking, yoga, and stretching weekly. Balance out your lazyness/game time with something constructive like learning Italian (can do gaming and Italian WoW'ing with Co-Worker and only speaking Italian). Balance your body with proper nutrition, and more water (54oz min daily). Special Goal: Check in more, and share more with others. I have a tendency to think what I have to share isn't good enough, so while I look at everyone's challenges I don't always speak up. I want to work on this since it's a confidence issue really and something I need to work on.

Last challenge was really successful, so I'm doing it again and adding things and tightening some up this time! GRUB 1.0: Maintenance Intake Range. No bad marks for going over this challenge, only 100 or more under, average is by week. 1.1: Proteins! 95g+ 6/7 = A, 5 = B, 4 = C graded by week, one day of leeway. 1.2: Eating With Sense. Must not exceed 200 calories of processed food. 4+ times per week = A, 3 = B, 2 = C (what counts and what doesn't is still somewhat subjective, because dairy and protein supps are fine) 1.3: One great day a week, no processed foods. 1.4: Continue having no soda. Tracking this this challenge for extra help. Any soda = fail 1.4 for the whole challenge. Added stuff = using a positive grading on the quota days as opposed to negative. So gaining a point for days falling in the desired parameters, as opposed to gaining when I fall out of them. Makes more sense this way. Objective limit on what it means to color in the lines here. Rolled up protein goal here since it did well for 4 weeks in a row and may not need its own section anymore. Shoved the unofficial goal at the end of last challenge in here, too. Difficulty increase: Increased the number of days that need to be "good" by one. MOVEMENT 2.0: 4 lifting sessions a week, continuing to follow Beyond 5/3/1 program. 4/4 = A, 3/4 = B, 2/4 = C 2.1: Attend all possible Strongwoman classes. Ideally this will be 1 per week, for 4 total. Sickness or cancelled classes will reduce the required number for an A. All 4= A, 3 = B, 2 = C Didn't previously require Strongwoman attendance for this goal. Now I do. (Group classes are not my favorite, but a helpful thing, so this will help me go.) MOBILITY 3.0: Aim for at least 6 days a week, 15 minutes a day of rolling/stretching. 6/7 = A, 5 = B, 4 = C No change from last time. ADULTING, THE GAME 4.0: Stick to points system, -5 points every day no writing or studying happens. 20 minutes bare minimum. 30 minutes required to earn points instead of stave off negative points. 4.1: Weekly To Do List. These will start short, since I've added a lot here. Change to the point rules to help spur creative productivity and/or study. Hopefully this works and doesn't end up demoralizing me. To-do list is new, there will probably just be one thing a week to start. A way to funnel this points-getting work into things I need to get done. Scoring format: 1.0: 0/1, 0/1, 0/1, 0/1 1.1: 0/7, 0/7, 0/7, 0/7 1.2: 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4 1.3: 0/1, 0/1, 0/1, 0/1 1.4: 0/0, 0/0, 0/0, 0/0 2.0: 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4 2.1: 0/1, 0/1, 0/1, 0/1 3.0: 0/7, 0/7, 0/7, 0/7 4.1: 0/1, 0/1, 0/1, 0/1 Point Balance: __ Strength Goal: I can plan these now! I want my symmetric strength me to look like this or better. If I continue to make gains as now, I should be able to do this by 10/22. (I am currently that pretty teal color only in glutes & quads.)

This Challenge has to deal with two types of Booty! Booty 1: So, I just got promoted at work It's a technical lead position (because I would make people cry if I was a straight up manager). It starts officially next week, and there should be a nice raise/possibly bonus as well starting in Oct. Booty 2: I want a nice rear end, and since my competition is now Dec 10 instead of Oct 22 I am going to focus a bit on form instead of function up until about the first week of Nov. I will still be doing event days, but I am going to go on a cut, and do more accessory work on the glutes. The Goals: Eat For The Booty: Follow post competition nutrition plan with at least 3 rest days (following until first week of Nov). Earn The Booty: Figure out new tasks/responsibilities and get settled into my new role. Keep a productive and positive attitude, a side of sass is acceptable. Work The Booty: Work in my Buti videos and extra glute work at least twice a week. 1 session can be skipped if I have a heavy squat/leg day. Life Goal: Love the Booty I Have - Work on some self acceptance and confidence, throw some pics up on instagram showing progress in weight loss/ increased awesomeness. .5 Zero Week To Do's - Focus on Organization - Use my Planner... seriously. (pictures will be posted for accountability) - Set reminders for Yoga workouts at home - Plan all meals for the first 2 weeks of the challenge - Clean up guest room and set it up for yoga Time to get to it!

So I am putting good vibes out for my house to sell ASAP, so in the title it goes! I have completed all the work I wanted to on the place, and really it's an adorable small house in a great location so I don't think I will have any issues getting it sold. And now that all that crazyness is over I can re-focus on my nutrition, and fitness. Goal 1 - 5 workouts per week (3 weight days, 1 orange theory day, 1 event training day) stepping it up even though the competition I registered for may fall through. Goal 2 - Follow my nutritionists orders, prep cook twice a week minimum, and measure everything for breakfast and lunch. Goal 3 - Taking Care of Business - This is a 3 part-er A. Take care of my body - drink water, stretch, work on wrist tendinitis because it's only getting worse) B. Take care of the house - do at least 1 chore daily + dishes C. Take care of business - I worked really hard to get a T-shirt startup going and due to both my friend and my life going for loops we fizzled out, I need to get a formal schedule going again so that by the time I move to my hermit hideaway I will have a somewhat stable income stream.

Hey! I am making my return this challenge, while I have been gone from the forums for a month I haven't been skipping the gym. I even come with gifts!!! AKA workout videos! So my trainer and I were talking last month and he talked me into try out a strongman competition. The training is a lot more enjoyable for me (and him), and I have been learning so many events. Yoke Carry 280lbs (current max for same distance is 320 now) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG2eEgsilzU 80lb log press - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foYY5E8nyTA 290lb sled pull - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSia7NF94a4 500-600 lb tire flip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfN4AggxH_Q I was actually embarrassed to put this one up at first, but then someone said good fight to me. I realized that yes, it was sloppy, but I didn't give up and that was a pretty awesome feeling. 260lb frame carry - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFvtph-_inA So now that we have caught up, and you have seen what I have been up to we will move on to what I will be up to for the next month. This challenge will basically be all about training for the competition which is Oct 22. Events will be released later this month. Goal 1: 3 weight days and a 90 min orange theory (up to my limit of 4 per month) class weekly. If I can't do another orange theory I will do my own interval training at home. Goal 2: Follow my nutritionist orders 80% minimum. If I only have white rice instead of brown then so be it, if I hate plain greek yogurt and get the kind with less sugar I am ok with that. I need to make this work for me (and it has for the past 2 weeks quite well), so I am finding the happy middle where I can follow this the majority of the time but still not go crazy. I also must have fish oil daily. Goal 3: Feel pretty damnit! (aka look like a damn lady at least 3 days a week) I have some serious body issues/ self confidence problems, so much so that while I put videos up I am too embarrassed to put current photos up. And while I know putting on a bit of makeup or taking the time to look put together is not something I do in the mornings it does help my self esteem so it needs to actually be a priority. I will also be starting up my Instagram to follow my progress, and training awesomeness and need to post something at least once a week (I am Harshtart if you want to follow). No awesome gifs but I can give you a photo of the new stray kitten that has found our home. We have had him for about a month now, and while we never really found a name he is known as Secret Agent D.O.G.. don't ask me why, it just kind of happened.