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Hi Nerds! I’m back (again…can’t finish a challenge but can’t stay away either). This last month (and the preceding months to come extent) have been a real gut punch to my life, and I am really struggling to do even the most basic stuff a lot of days, so here I am. Spoiler below for people who would like more detail….TW: divorce, death, pet peril So, basically, I’m in survival mode, and with the school year coming out, I need to crawl my way out of that so I’m not totally overwhelmed come August. I am going to start very simple and just go from there and add things as I can. 1. Take meds 2. 7 hours of sleep every night 3. Choose 3 tasks every day and complete them (can be big or small depending on physical/emotional energy available) 4. Update here at least twice a week, even if it’s just a sentence That’s what I have for now. Happy Challenge Everyone!!

I am running out of ideas for challenge titles. This year I need to work on my co-dependency problems. Living with family members with personality disorders is not fun any more. And since I am also working with them, and we have been hovering on the edge of bankruptcy for the past ten years, I am beyond tired. I have suicidal thoughts every single day. It is not good, and I will cope, but being unhappy is not fun. I have no contact with anyone outside the internet, so have no support of any kind. I also finished my spreadsheet on my spending for the past year, and it is depressing how little I did to make my own life better. If more than half my income go into keeping the workshop running things are wrong. I also bought more than 200 second hand books, 41 large packets of crisps, 5 pizzas and I had fries 11 times. And since the charity shop opened I managed to get some decent clothing, something that has been bothering me for years. My weight is also not in a good place. I started last year at 96.8 kg, dropped to 91 kg, went up to 102 kg, and weighed in this morning at 99.9 kg. It is a long way from my lowest of 76 kg. My eating is actually on track, it is just my activity levels that are too low. I have started working on moving a bit more the past few weeks, and I am feeling better, but I need to do some proper exercise. My car is wonky. There is nothing I can do about it, but it is another worry that is nagging at the back of my head. My health is mostly good. I have not been to the doctor in more than a year, I have not seen a dentist is more than twenty years. There is some issues, yesterday my sciatica flared up again, and I could barely walk, but it got much better throughout the day. For this challenge I am trying to get back into some good habits: 1. Exercise. Do something that make me sweat every day 2. Journal Write a journal every day. 3. Meditate 5 minutes meditation every day. As a side challenge try not to kill anyone. We are starting our work year this coming Monday, and I am dreading it. Spending another year among stupid people I cannot stand is not something I am looking forward too. I am considering becoming an asshole just to drive them away. But getting rid of people in place with 40% unemployment is almost impossible. My to-do list for this holiday was longer than my arm. I did my first item, got sidetracked by my father, had to rebuild a machine, had a burst waterpipe and basically spend my entire holiday doing things other people wanted me to do. I need to work on this boundary thing.

Hoo boy howdy y’all. Hoo. Boy. Howdy. 2018 has been a YEAR. I’ve had some challenging years but this one takes the cake, hands down. It’s been a literal Maximum Chaos Party but it’s coming to a close and after everything that’s happened and everything I’ve shouldered and powered through I’m determined to finish STRONG AS HECK Y’ALL. 2019 is coming and I've still got a lot ahead of me to accomplish, a lot, so I'm going to take the time this challenge to rest and stay steady and reflect on exactly where I've been, and where I'm going. My goals are simple and seasonal and they are as follows: 1. Keep the task list going. Doing a weekly task list now that I’m home and have no real schedule has saved my BUNS. I’m going to keep up with this like I have been and keep moving forward to get things done. One step at a time. Then the next step. Then the next.... 2. HOLIDAY HARD. For the first time in like, seriously, forever, I’m going to be home for the holidays. We’re doing a real Thanksgiving and parties with friends and getting an actual Christmas tree and I’m really really pretty darn hype to be in the holiday spirit, so I’m going to enjoy the heck out of this holiday season and stay mindful and be REALLY FRICKIN’ JOLLY AND STUFF OK. My mom is SO hype I'm home for this so I want to focus a lot of my energy on making these holidays full of joy and cheer and eggnogging and all that smarmy shit you see on the Lifetime movies. I’m REALLY EXCITED. *^_____^* And that’s it, folks. I’m going to finish up this epic respawn and rejuvenate during this challenge so I can get ready to hit the ground running once the new year hits! Where will 2019 take me?? We'll see............

Nerds, comrades, friends, GREETINGS! Welcome to........ The Big One. The start of the ULTRA. MEGA. SHAAR RESPAWN CHRONICLES. So a quick recap from my last challenge, if you’ve lost your mind in the interim (like me) or if you’re new to these bardly parts - TL;DR, my house sold and is about to close this week, I’ve separated from my partner of 11 years (we live together and are still extremely close, which may make this harder), I’m quitting my job of 6.5 years in 2 weeks, and in the last week of August we’re loading up all of our crap to make the final road trip to move out of NC to MA for me, and NYC for them. Oh, and I’ll be bringing my heavily drugged-up anxiety ball of a cat. >:] Phew. Needless to say this a big, if not the biggest, turning point of my life. There’s a lot at play here mentally, emotionally... everything-ly, it’s been a lot of work to get to this point, and it’s finally here, and HOO BOY HOWDY BUCKLE UP YOUR SEATBELTS KIDS. My last few months have been nothing short of unpredictable and chaotic, and pretty much every aspect of my life has been in a quiet flux and is about to change real soon. Neat!! *^_^* (I’m v. much looking forward to the end result, FWIW!!!) So, my last few previous challenges have all led up to this one. The big one. The start of the real deal mega-frickin’ respawn. And, like the previous challenges, this one has only one goal - survive. I know I can do it, I’ve gotten through so much already, I only hope I don’t take a massive beating along the way. It’s like when you’re getting close to the boss room, and there’s a nicely placed save point, and you’re just kinda like “....Oh.” You know what’s coming. After the boss you get to like, go back to town and repair your gear and take a load off while the plot progresses. But you gotta do the hard work first. I’m going to do my best to take care of myself along the way - making sure I eat enough, get proper sleep, try not to let anxiety ruin my schedule of the aforementioned (because it has already), and try not to overthink things. One day at a time, take care of what’s in front of me, and then move on from there. Once this challenge is over everything will be done and dusted!... Right? (RIGHT.) And I’ll be able to continue my respawn and move on to more focused work - regaining my fitness, retooling my career, ENJOYING MYSELF, yes yes, all of these things! So I’ll get through it in the only way I know how - running and screaming and not letting anything get in my way. It’s worked so far.... Right?! I've got a lot of things I need to take care of so this challenge will also likely feature list after list of crap that I can check off as I move forward. HERE WE GO MY DUDES~ <3 [edit] OH THIS CHALLENGE WAS MY 10000 POST THIS IS A BLESSED AND SPECIAL THING !!!!!!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDDDD

My neeeeeerds HELLO HI GREETINGS HAPPY FEBRUARY!! Happy - new - challenge! We are totally out of the doldrums of January and ready to keep rockin', right?? This challenge cycle is going to focus on something real important - NOT LOSING MY FRICKIN’ MARBLES. The theme of 2018 so far seems to be Everything is Chaos so, okay, cool, I can take a hint. Also I often fall victim to a heavy dose of ~seasonal ennui~ around this time of year - it’s something I’m very aware of and now is the time to buckle down and take care of myself so I can get through this in one glorious screaming piece. This challenge has One. Very. SIMPLE! Goal! (Right?) Follow the checklist. And it’s Inception-themed so I can take it one layer at a time. (Checklist within a checklist, natch~) (Also I adore this frickin' movie and have been patiently awaiting the day I could use it as a theme, so here we are.) Since Everything is Chaos I’m going to try and make that work for me by working around it - I’m not giving myself 4 weeks of static goals this go-around. Each weekend I’ll create a checklist of things to be completed over the course of the week and post it here and.... Uh.... HECKIN’ COMPLETE ‘EM ALL. It can be anything from workout-specific things to cleaning the fridge to getting OUT of my pajamas on a Saturday; you know, the real stuff. I’ve got some longer goals that I’m eyeballing lately too that I want to start laying the foundation for, so that’ll be present too. (More details on those later, stay tuned babies~) And I’ll try to throw some fun stuff in there to keep me motivated, like drop in a cool lizard screenshot or draw a 10 minute picture of my cat screaming at the washing machine (his new hobby). You know. THE REAL STUFF. But mostly I’ll just try to keep focused and take it one step at a time. I’ll likely do this digitally on my tablet (‘cause writing is way more fun than typing yeah?) but if I don’t feel like sitting at the computer I’ll handwrite/photograph and just go with it. Stay sane. Don’t fall into the hole of despair. Keep doing the thing. Yeah? YEAH?!!!?!? YEAH!!!!!!

I am Six. Padawan Assassin The Origin of Six Six’s Ambitions Like most in the Rebellion, I want to be healthier, stronger, and live more fully. On a daily basis, I will not anger or worry. I will be present, grateful, and work diligently. I will be kind. In my endeavors, I will strive to create and act in a manner that is innovative, useful, aesthetic, understandable, unobtrusive, honest, thorough, efficient, and minimal. Six’s Epic Quests Survive Like Les: Primitive Survival In Like Flint: Secret Agent An Adventurer like You (or Until I Take an Arrow to the Knee) Deviant like Lolish: Artistry Rich like McDuck: Financial Independence A Mind like Sherlock: Temple of the Mind

*placeholder for awesome* Ok so life is about to get HELLA CRAZY because, in 13 days, I have all three of my final exams on the same day, back to back. So it's gonna be a matter of surviving until that's over. And then the rest of the month after that will just be holidays and - dun dun dunnn - my final days at my secretary job. That's right, I finally turned in my notice. As of January, I'll be a physics tutor and nothing else. So... this month will probably be a lot of emotions. In order to survive this month and not lose all the ground I've gained, I'm going to not change anything. 1. 2 workout days per week (variable depending on school/other demands), at least one at the pool (ideally) 2. Healthy breakfasts and lunches, batch cooked on the weekends tadaaa~

I've always been interested with the concept of the assassin. I've been trying without much success to really branch out and utilize my time more wisely - less netflix, more other. I made the commitment to learn the guitar by signing up for a month of lessons - so far that's working. Glad I read the Level Up your life book, Steve was right I was a bit down with how I hadn't been doing the MovNat exercises when I planned them, but I'm feeling sore and achy - combination of age, sinusitis, and marching band season starting. My daughter is in the guard and I am one of the dads that helps haul all of the props and equipment to and from the field for their show. It occurred to me that I was doing a lot of exercise, it just wasn't the type I was planning. So I'm going to incorporate it into this challenge, especially since her season doesn't end until the end of October. I am going to prepare myself to become one of the brotherhood of assassins. Just to be clear (not great at all of this yet) I don't plan on taking anyone out Perfect the weapon Weekend Hone the clay into the mold for the spirit - Haul and load the props, instruments, and other gear for the saturday shows. This is the equivalent of pushing 50lb sled about a mile per show. Act and react with perfect balance and speed - Get in and out of the truck whenever possible. Essentially, I'm jumping down from a 4 foot shelf with good posture at landing. I'm also essentially doing a wall pushup and turning my body so I can sit. In the beginning, I can sometimes vault into the truck with one foot catching. Every other day http://darebee.com/workouts/assassin-workout.html Eating - cleanse the body to make it the perfect weapon Stop eating gluten free and go full paleo again eat hashish drink more water Meditation - refine the mind and spirit to make the perfect kill Pick a target, someone local and after scouting out their location, examine the terrain and determine best approach Practice glowing ball technique - visualize a ball to move along skin, physically trying to relax the muscles under the ball while trying not to let mind wander (*squirrel*) practice this at night before bed to rest the mind Scan crowds at events and see who is trained and hiding, and who is not - scope out enemy. Writing - know yourself/know your enemy research topics Arthur Hashashiin Knights Templar Telekinesis When I have completed these tasks, I will be ready to take out my target. (Sneak up on my neighbor without him seeing me)

It is winter now in South Africa. I am supposed to do more, but for my own sanity and energy levels I am doing as little as possible. I am in the middle of major depression. Some days are very bad, some are better, but none is good. Things are not going well at work, and because of that not well at home either. And I cannot do anything to help anybody, except do my best, in my little way, and hope that is is going to be good enough. 1. Eat less, move more I need to check on how much I eat. I tend to eat out of boredom, and that is not good. My weight was stable around the last two challenges, and that is fine, but I need to drop some. And I have to get moving again. I would love to do yoga again, but it is freezing cold in the only place I can do, so for now, some exercise every day. Non zero is fine. 2. Buy less, make more Buy less. I started July as a no spend month, and have already broken it. Stay out of shops, as simple as that. Make more. Yup, the knives. 3. Stress less, laugh more I have no idea on how I am going to stress less, focus on 5 maybe? Do some effort at smiling every day. Forcing it is fine. Too many days goes past without a smile. 4. Feel blessed, love more Making an effort to feel gratitude for things that happen. And concentrate on having good feelings about people and try to do something for them. 5. Find a quiet spot every day and Breathe. The meditation and breathing thing. I have neglected it the past few months.

No Fear of the Setting Sun The icy water felt like a million tiny knives against the skin of his face and yet there was something invigorating about it. Little more than a boy, he stood by the stream as tall as he was, discretely watching the seasoned men around him take care of the camp chores. It was his first expedition and, in fact, the first time he had been that far from the farm. “Com’ here, boy!â€, Halfdan called him to the center of the camp. “I’m gonna teach you how to set up a smoking rack†Eager to learn from the Jarl’s man he walked to the fire carefully staging a careless attitude… he didn’t wanted to look like an excited little kid in front of that group of explorers, hunters and warriors. “That’s a quick learner right there†said the man as the boy finished lashing the spars. “Alright, will you teach me to use a sword then? You said you would!†The flourishing young man gave place to the kid in him once again. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. This again? I already told you: Once you learn how to use that empty head of yours; once you acquire some shade of bloody discipline… then and only then I will teach you to fight. Now, get to work or you’ll fell the back of my handâ€. Halfdan had a really short fuse. He was a good man, but the pain made him a taciturn fellow. Old battle wounds ached all over his body, but worst was the pain of his soul… some nights he could still hear the screams of his wife and see the raging fire, the lifeless eyes of his son. Back in the farm the fire was always crackling, but there it was his job to start it. Halfdan taught him how to do it, as well as how to build a tripod and tan the skin of the deer the hunters brought from their expeditions. “I’m acting like a child. I should be grateful for Halfdan’s lessons†the boy thought while preparing a stew of freshly gathered roots and some meat and bones. Definitely not feasting material, but anything’s better than starving. He left the stew to cook and went looking for Halfdan to apologize, but the man was nowhere to be found. He headed towards the river and walked downstream. There lying on the dirt was a small pouch. He crouched to get hold of it and suddenly a hand covered his mouth and Halfdan’s voice whispered on his ear “don’t make a sound kid. The forest is boiling with Kandajarâ€. He was talking about the native inhabitants of the land. They used to be pacific people who lived of the land and made those forest their home, but when the settlers began to occupy their lands hostilities began and disputes over hunting game or women quickly became a blood feud that transcended time. Generations where born and passed away and the origin of the enmity was forgotten. Only the hatred remained and now the Kandajar were after the tracks of the trading party. The boy and the man rushed back to the camp to warn their men but the natives were already there. Fur clad figures flooded the campsite as wooden clubs clashed against round shields. Warcries, screams of pain and terror filled the air. Steel axes and swords cut through the fur sending Kandajar to their gods at the same rate that wooden clubs sent warriors to meet the Allfather. The boy thought his first battle would be a glorious event, where he would prove himself to his comrades but there he stood, confused and terrified, at the edge of pissing his pants. An enormous hand shook him back to reality. “Run kid, hide!†Halfdan crushed a Kandajari’s face with his shield and finished him up with a thrust of his sword. The boy ran towards the tree while smoke filled the air: some trees where catching fire. He took a last glance over his shoulder. Halfdan was surrounded by enemies, swinging his sword with absolute mastery, striking fear into the Kandajar’s hearts… dying a warrior’s death. Halfway to the top of the hill he stopped running. “Halfdan! I left him there, he could still be aliveâ€. As foolish as that thought was, it expressed how much he looked upto the seasoned warrior. The boy unsheathed his knife and turned around to face the campsite. A fur clad figure came rushing from the bushes and bumped into the boy. They rolled on the ground throwing punches and kicks at each other. The Kandajari’s warpaint rubbed off against the boy’s clothes revealing the face of a 12 o 13 kid, the same age as the boy who now was being choked to death by the Kandajari lad. The savage fingers were like hooks around his neck. His lungs burned and his vision blurred. He was going to die at the hands of a wild kid… and then he remembered the knife. His hand was still clinched around the knife’s handle. With the sick rage of desperation he frantically stabbed the Kandajari on the side, the ribs, and the belly. The kid dropped dead upon him but the stabbing didn’t stop. After what seemed like the hundredth stab, the boy slipped from beneath the dead body. There, covered in blood, alone, he cried. Tears rolled of his eyes for he knew that there was no returning home, Halfdan was dead and soon he would be too. So much for the glory of the first kill. It was all a lie. Once he ran out of tears, the truth stroke him like lightning: He was on his own. For the first time in his life he was on his own and whether he lived or died depended entirely on him. “Time to be a man. Alright, think… we reached an outpost two days ago. That’s it! If I can survive and march two days to the outpost I might get to tell the tale†suddenly he realized he was thinking out loud. He assessed his possessions: A knife, a whetstone, flint and a steel striker. He seized the Kandajari’s blood-stained fur clothes; they would be of much use at night. The first night was cold and it took his full effort to get a fire burning. The boy munched a few berries and fell asleep by the fire, wrapped in furs, smothered by fear. Fear of the Kandajar, fear of wild beasts, of the dark. He woke up at dawn and resumed the march. A constant feel of being watched was making him more and more paranoid. A stick broke somewhere behind him. The boy was trembling. A muffled sound of metal against metal. Enough. He started running blinded by fear and his stalkers race after him. The warcries of his pursuers put wings on the boy's feet as he sprinted through the woods. He reached the edge of the forest and slipped on a patch of naked stone causing him to fall downhill into the rushing river. The kid was dragged by the current and hit his head against a floating piece of wood. Many hours he lied unconscious on the river bank, until the kick of a heavy booted foot awakened him. There stood a tall man, his torso covered in leather armor, carrying weapons and a shield. “Get up lad†the stranger offered the boy a callused hand. “Attacked by the Kandajar, weren’t you?†The boy told the man about the events of the last few days and even if he didn’t knew the stranger; he had to get something out of his chest: the fear. He told the man about the fear he felt at night. The stranger gave him a lupine look, “How old are you, kid?†“I’m 12 sir†the boy answered. “Twelve… If you start training now, we’ll be on time to get you initiated before you are too oldâ€. Only then did the boy notice the other men, carrying similar armor and weapons.â€You’ll travel with us!†the kid was in no position to reject such an offer â€Just stay close to me, in case one of my comrades turns… we’ve got a full moon on the way†“Turn?†the boy asked. “You’ll see soon enough†The enigmatic stranger showed a grin for the first time. “Name’s Ragnar by the way… cheer up, lad you’ll be safe. We’ve got no fear of the setting sun†Before he became a wolfwarrior, the main character of my challenges (the kind of man I strive to be) was just a kid who was lucky enough to run into the right mentors. But let’s cut the boy some slack. If he didn’t had the basic survival techniques taught to him by Halfdan, he wouldn’t have made it through the woods. And that will be the special aspect of this challenge. GOALS Do some research on survival techniques and try one each week - (15%)Practice pull-ups and chin ups every day following a GtG plan. - (15%)Eat Paleo every day with just one weekly variance (add description and/or picture of every meal) - (45%)Keep on practicing my bodyweight skills at least twice a week - (15%) SIDE QUESTS Perform an action in relation to reenactment each day - (5%)Stuff to Do Lists(this time the number of items may range from one to four) - (5%) Last challenge I fashioned a list of rewards depending on my score. In the end, despite of having earned the new pack of plates, I won't be able to buy them because unexpected expenses left me with less money than I had thought. So option 2, pull-up bar it is!(and "the primal blueprint" for kindle 'cause is not that expensive) REWARDS A- Full sirvival Kit B- Fire Starting Kit C- New spice rack to upgrade my batch cooked meals with.

(N.B. This is largely a half-finished draft. I'm posting it while unfinished because I start travel right around the challenge start time, and don't want to get too time-crunched to get my thoughts down. I'll edit the post later to write down rewards, then remove this notice.) Last challenge felt pretty successful. Planning the next was daunting, as the travel I have scheduled and pending-scheduling for the next few weeks make planning anything hard. Then something hit me...during the coming month and a half, I'll be in urban settings, on a farm, in at least one forest, at 14,000 feet on the summit of a mountain (volcano, actually), on a beach (maybe), in a swamp (still tentative but likely) and a bunch of other places. This is my terrain challenge. My main quest is to survive and thrive in a variety of environments of varying levels of hospitality while continuing to increase my work capacity and performance for future martial arts, SAR, and otherwise Rangerly activities. Quest #1: Survive I've signed myself up for a couple of things in the challenging-bordering-on-unwise range. One is working at 14,000 feet after not having done anything at altitude in years, without acclimation breaks. Another is a still-tentative challenging winter hike a friend cooked up (assuming we have suitable snow in early December). Grading here is simple pass/fail based on whether I successfully get through the challenge without any injuries or illness that are both caused by unaccepted risks** and sufficient to hamper work, family commitments, or training. **"caused by unaccepted risks" means that I screwed up (i.e. didn't properly consider a risk, or flubbed doing a planned risk mitigation), as opposed to something caused by a risk I accepted (e.g. I know that a hypoxic episode is a possible result of ascending to 14k feet without adequate acclimation, and I've accepted that risk knowing that I have the skills to deal with it and supplemental oxygen available...having such an episode won't count against me). The goal here is measured, thoughtful risk-taking, and good management of physical resources, not going home and hiding under the covers. Reward: Quest #2: Thrive The mountain is going to nuke me for a bit. I'm also going to have busy time in multiple locales that offer social distractions that would make it easy for me to go off the rails in terms of diet and training. Simply to not die is not to live, one must also grow. So I'm going to do something to work out at least 24 times during the challenge. For this purpose "do something" is either an unusual feat (e.g. trying a new physical skill or activity, or beating a personal record), or completing at least a reasonable short (20 min intense or 30 min moderate) workout of either a strength or conditioning variety. I'm leaving this extremely flexible, because I don't know where I'll be or what will be available from day to day. It's all about adaptation. Grading: A: 24/24 ...B: 22/24 ...C: 18/24 ...D: Ranger don't get no stinkin' D's or F's. Reward: Quest #3: Conquer In a recent martial-arts related thread here on NF, I discussed an old habit of running kata on varied terrain to increase my dexterity and force me to adapt my movement. I'd like to take advantage of my travel to run martial arts drill on interesting ground. During the challenge, I will run some sort of MA drill on 12 different surfaces. Grading: A: 12 ...B: 10 ...C: 8 ....yeah, that's it. Reward: Quest #4 (side quest): Lead Leadership, people skills, managing organizations, helping people along their paths in life...all have been running themes for me of late. Some of my fellow Rangers watched me struggle last challenge with the thought of whether to try to repair my local SAR team, spin one up from scratch, or put that aside for another day. There are work things and family things going on. I recently took a leadership role in a nonprofit organization, and I'm a project lead on at least two side projects. It's a theme at work, too. This quest will be graded on a scale of 0-12 points: one point for each week in which I do *something*, whether it be read something, listen to a podcast, or have a meaningful conversation, to increase my abilities in areas of leadership, management, or executive skill, and one point for each week in which I identify (asking is allowed!) an area of desired development in the leadership/management/executive skill of someone else and find a way to help foster it. Reward:

"Hunters once prowled the wilderness and wastelands, taking big risks for even bigger rewards. You're no outlaw — at least, not anymore — but making your own luck has always meant bending the rules." "If you learn nothing else, learn this: when a Hunter takes up the cloak of a dead comrade, this is a vow." - Hardcase Cloak, Destiny. If the last challenge was intended to be "new, more fun and dynamic," this one will be the most epic, life-altering, and most dynamic yet. Featuring all sorts of side missions, bounties, and achievements, my goal is to allow myself to choose my own adventure as I go, picking up activities as I have the time and motivation. My Main Quest is to be the most Bad-Ranger-Ass version of myself possible and to keep moving forward with an aim to gamify and nerdify daily life, injecting a measure of excitement and adventure to break up the drudgery of mortal reality. I have more or less made a routine of good nutrition, regular attendance to CrossFit, tracking all of my meals on MyFitnessPal, and have attempted some small life hacks with a positive overall effect on my day to day. Now it is crunch time though, and the Hunter is never satisfied with "good enough." Starting weight: 194 lbs. Maximum pullups: 8 strict. Goal: 10. Requires reevaluation. Mission 0-1: Path of the Hunter (+3 CON) Follow meal & nutrition model as prescribed, primarily relying on whole foods and breaking the junk food trend.Adhere to Control Day protocols on days that I do not workout.Bonus Quest: Before & After pictures.Mission 0-2: Path of the Drifter (+2 STR, +4 DEX) Practice double-unders once per week. Follow The 20 Pull-up Challenge program twice per week.Attempt a Survival Parkour™ technique once every two weeks minimum.Mission 0-3: Path of the Nomad (+3 STA) Conduct three (3) Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol missions (minimum of 3km) with a weighed rucksack during the challenge.Bonus Sub Quest: Build a GoRuck style brick for rucking.Return to the Rock Climb two (2) times before challenge ends.Life Mission: Life-Hacking v1.0 for Growth and Profit (+2 WIS, +1 CHA) Adhere to debt repayment ($500 per month minimum), savings (automated through e-banking), and budget (no frivolity or major gear purchases). Drink a Bulletproof Chai tea three (3) times weekly.F.lux may only be disabled after hours for two (2) nights per week.Skill Mission 0-1: Surviving the Frontier [Wilderness Lore, level 2.5] Adhere to Wilderness Lore level 2.5 & 3 curriculum.Study one survival subject twice weekly as per outline. Spend minimum of 30 minutes per two weeks engaging in a practicum on this subject.Skill Mission 0-2: Multi-Tasking All The Things Three (3) DuoLingo lessons per week.Practice photography techniques weekly.[Rise of the Vanguard] Achievement: Press [X] to hack the Lock Box... Completing this challenge will award the epic drop... something yet to be determined. Challenge Inspiration: Destiny's Hunter, Star Wars: The Old Republic's Bounty Hunter, and all of those wasteland-walking, outpost-raiding, bounty-chasing hunters who make it their business of thriving among the shady vestiges of society where anything can happen and they must constantly be on the top of their game. It isn't enough to merely survive; one must thrive in even the most adverse of conditions. That means we're going to continue building upon the foundation of functional fitness and skills I've started, constantly adapting, improvising, and improving my abilities to become the most resilient, capable, and adaptable version of myself possible.

It's inevitable. Zombies are coming. Between running with zombie moans and podcasts about rabies and conspiracy theories on my headphones I'm 100% sure of this now. So I better get down to it and start preparing. And to fully prepare, I'm enlisting in the AZAM - the Anti Zombie Army of Madness aka my very own bootcamp. I'm getting help from my friends and other sources and it's going to be epic. My next challenge will have a lot of things happening in my life that may help or hinder me and I'll have to find a way to work with and around that. For one, stud muffin is leaving May 2nd. He has a tremendous impact on my life in terms of motivation, adventure and accountability and I'm going to miss him like crazy. Remember how I first told you guys about him like... 2 or 3 challenges ago? Who would have thought it would ever come to this, huh? As I am writing this, I've got almost a full month left with him before he leaves for 9-10 weeks. He'll be back for a short while after that but it'll be rough. As of this moment, we've done an awesome 5k mud run together, have signed up for the Spartan Race in Munich that's on April 18th (so just after the start of the challenge!) and he's forced and helped me through many, many workout related but also emotional things. I'm incredibly grateful that he's part of my life and will be even after he's gone. There's also school & work. I'll have some exams coming up and while I'm currently at the start of a 2 week vacation, that's gonna be over when the challenge starts. I definitely do have to do some studying while I'm at it. Social life of course also mixes into it, but I've found many great people that I can spend time with WHILE working out so I don't foresee that many obstacles there So let's get down to it! MAIN GOAL: Survive basic training/get ready for the zombie apocalypse When you train to survive, there's a few things factoring in. Goal 1: Zombies, Run! Running is obviously one of the most important skills you need for the apocalypse. If you can't run away from them, they're going to eat your brains and I do very much enjoy my brains. So the running continues. Be it with the 5k trainer or the normal Zombies, Run app or with the help of the awesome races I'll be running doesn't matter. So long as I can be out there with the wind on my face and my heart beating fast and sweat running down my skin, I'm happy, and the zombies will be sad. This is all that counts. As for races, here's the current schedule: April 18th: Spartan Race Munich (5k mud run) May 17th: Urbanian Run Frankfurt (5k city obstacle run) May 24th: Viking Heroes Challenge (5k mud run) I'm concentrating on 5ks this year and I hope to add a few more over the course of the year but I think for this challenge I'm good. As a bonus I'm going to try and make a reward wall in my room. To hang my medals, race bibs and other paraphernalia to always remind me of how awesome I am and what I've managed to survive - also to scare off the zombies. They're not even gonna want to chase me when they lay eyes on that wall! Ha! Goal 2: Zombies, Work it! Sometimes running fails. And even if it doesn't, living in a post-apocalyptic world is going to be rough both mentally and physically. The mental things I don't need to worry about right this moment, but the physical things could definitely use some training. So this is where I'll build my workout. It's a work in progress as of right now and hopefully I'll have rewritten this part by the start of the challenge. I'm planning to find short workouts as well as longer workouts that I can just do without having to make up my mind before working out and thus losing precious time just bumming around on Youtube. So stay tuned for adventures in zombie strength training! Zombie sit-ups FTW! Goal 3: Zombies, Die! This one I'm super freaking excited about. I was talking to my friend Shred (the guy who ran the beer obstacle run with me) the other day about survival training and combatives and he actually sat down with me and made a plan for a bootcamp of sorts. I'll be learning lots of awesome stuff from him, he's gonna chase me across fields, up and down hills and through my house and it shall be epic and exhausting and so much fun. Quick overview: Kill zombies inside my house: - identifying and avoiding danger areas - clearing a room - clearing a corner Kill zombies in the wilderness: - proper use of cover and concealment - movement under direct fire Avoid being killed by zombies with mortars: - move under indirect fire Avoid being killed by zombies in hand to hand combat: - foot trap - attacking the eyes - pushing the core - throat stomp Keep yourself and your friends alive (medical): - stop the bleeding - transport a casualty - breathing - hypothermia prevention It will be both knowledge and actual physical stuff and I'm super super excited for it. I'm going to run around forests and fields making a fool of myself and getting workout, what could be better?! Diet/Life Goals: There will be none for this challenge. As pointed out above, there's going to be some difficulties in my life over the course of the challenge. Apart from that I really love my life the way it is right now. I'm doing alright with the diet and I don't want to overburden myself. There will also be no tracking. I'll wing it and get in as much as my life allows and be happy with that!

So! this is going to be an action-packed challenge. Main Goal: Don't Die *HoD interjection "Not even a d4?"* During this challenge I will participate in my first CrossFit competition, do a marathon relay with my family (I'm only running 5k), and do my first Spartan (assuming I don't chicken out). Main goal is to make it through the Spartan without death or serious injury, so I can start my new job that next Monday. Goal 1: Upper Body Upper body strength is probably going to be my biggest weakness at the Spartan, especially pulling myself up on things. To work toward improving this, I will do at least 2 sets of 5 ring rows each time I'm at CrossFit. If ring rows are part of the WOD, that counts Grading: 90-100% of ring rows done = A; 80-89% done = B; 79% or fewer done = C Goal 2: Endurance My second biggest weakness will probably be my cardio endurance. I will attempt to improve this by going to CrossFit regularly, but also by doing what my coach calls a "Fasted Suck Fest". 2x per week I will do a Tabata in the morning as soon as I get up, and 2x per week I will do some slow pace cardio after the WOD. Grading: 21+ Suck Fests = A; 18-20 = B; 17 or fewer = C Goal 3: Fuel My coach suggested a temporary adjustment to my macros yesterday. He said he's had good luck in the past helping postpartum women get their hormones more regulated using a similar balance. I'm a little annoyed, because I had a nice little routine going, but I'm going to give it a shot. New macro split is 175g protein, 100g fat, 175g carbs. Goal is to track macros every day and try to get a plan going to get as close as possible to the goal numbers without going crazy. As an additional incentive, if I get an A grade, I can buy a new lunchbox. Grading: 37+ days tracked = A; 33-36 days = B; 32 or fewer days = C Life Side Quest: Get Ready to Go We're hoping to be able to sell our house relatively quickly so I don't have to do the hellish commute for too long. However, in order to do that, we first have to list the dang thing. We've been working on cleaning, etc., and I made a strong start this weekend at cleaning up and decluttering things, but we need to kick it into gear and set up a routine so we can clean up stuff quickly when the house is going to be shown. Get house ready to be listedContact a realtorList houseGet routine on autopilotI need to do something on this every day. If we can get the house listed by the beginning of May, and if I have at least 37 days of working toward this goal, I can buy two pairs of Sox Box socks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Quest: Improve physical strength through sensible eating and body weight workouts. Side Missions: Improve quality of life through positive affirmations, gardening and house maintenance. Epic Quest: Survive the apocalypse! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- My sixth 6WC finally involved a plan, taken directly from my Epic Quest of Awesome to slowly and surely improve my life. That worked well, so I'll be continuing on from that. Why fix what ain't broken? Food: Maximum one take-out meal a week (6 / 6) Only if all effort is made to cook something from what’s in the cupboard at home. Food at work is allowed; within reason. Cakes and other sweets count as non-snack items. If I go out, best efforts should be made to eat well and not overindulge. 3 cheat snacks per week. (18 / 18) Allowed snacks (not cheats): 70% dark chocolate greek yoghurt popcorn with butter fruit, fresh or frozen nuts, raw or roasted only sweeteners allowed are honey or maple syrup. home baked treats - best efforts made to make paleo / GF / not total shit (under 120cals per serve) Skim milk in any coffee made by oneself. This quest is half me stopping my mindless food grabbing both at work and at home, and half getting clever with the supplies hiding in the back of my cupboard, and less reliance on fast food. Shelter: 6 gardening missions. (0 / 6) plant sunflowers plant chills plant basil indoor compost bin outdoor compost system evening snail chase Now that Spring has sprung, I really want to get out into the garden more, make my composting more efficient, and I don't want the snails eating my beautiful vegetables! One mission a week. 6 spring cleaning missions. (0 / 6) clean out fridge dust windowsills clean windows clean out wardrobe clean on top of the fridge clean the patio There are still dark corners of my house that need attending to, and this Spring I want to fling the curtains wide open and see the outside! Or at least, just not choke on the dust that erupts from the windowsills every time I move the curtains. Another "once a week" mission. Company: Meditate 5 minutes a day. (0 / 42) Enjoy your own company! There are still dark corners of my mind that need dusting as well. I need to spend less time distracting myself from life and spend a bit more time with myself instead. Just five minutes. Naps count, if I spend the first part of it clearing my mind and focussing on my breath. Survival: Bodyweight movements 3 days a week. (0 / 18) 5 sets of 4 randomly drawn cards. Push up progression (clubs) Pull up progression (diamonds) Squat progression (spades) Push ups / Handstand progression (hearts) Dive roll practice 2 yoga sessions p/week 2 rest days I think I've found my "thing" with body weights. I don't have to faff about with barbells or dumbbells or weight plates, I just get in there and do it. I want to be able to do cool things, like pistol squats and handstand push ups. I've just gotta work through the progressions until I get there. I'll be using Quilly's Bodyweight Solitaire idea to structure my workouts, to give them a hint of unpredictability and day to day difference. I'm not a "same thing every day" kinda girl. Also, dive rolls are a must-have in any zombie-escape arsenal so I need to start learning how to do those. I've already scoured the Assassins for info, they have heaps. Gotta love this place! I could be over there for this challenge, but I'm doing loads of other things as well and I like you Adventurer people! Yoga is lovely and I really enjoy the added flexibility and control it's giving me over my body. I don't have to do it to succeed in this challenge, but it definitely helps my body recover and strengthen in different ways. Purpose: One positive affirmation per day. (0 / 42) Happiness is a good purpose, right?

The Apocalypse, Day One. "The day the apocalypse hit was a day like any other. It was slightly overcast with more then a slight chance of rain, and so I had locked myself inside with nothing but my dog and my computer. The middle of winter is a real motivation drainer so I have found herself drawn to the warmth of the gas heater and cheesy reality TV shows more and more as the cold months have progressed. That was until, my partner (henceforth known as Mr. Tea) came roaring home from work one day, flung the front door open, flung himself through it, and slammed it shut, back pushed firmly against the wood. I assumed he was just hangry, and wandered over to see if he wanted something to eat, until I saw the look of horror on his face. The kind of horror only brought on by one thing." The last thing I ever wanted to do was become a mindless drone, wandering around in a daze, not using my life to it's fullest potential. Most of my empty wandering sprouted from the lack of a clear cut plan of attack for improving my life, and while I made some progress fluffing about learning the basics of eating right and exercising, I got to where I wanted to be and well, stopped. I fell into the trap of getting to my destination and got slack, instead of changing tack and creating some progress goals to keep me going. Now, I have a plan, and I'm implementing this plan today. I'm keeping it simple, building habits I need. Hence joining the Adventurers for this challenge! "Zombies." Just that one muttered work changed our whole life. Unfortunately that change started sooner then I had hoped. I wasn't ready! Unprepared! I was still unfit, untrained, unmotivated! How the hell was I supposed to survive a zombiepocalypse?!" Survival: Get moving for at least 30 minutes 6 days a week. Work does not count. (0 / 36 points) e.g. walk the dog, practice basic parkour, do yoga, bodyweight exercise This is obvious. I need skills to be able to get away from zombies. Build barricades, bend through tight spaces Etc. Any of the above are fine, but I need to make a habit of planning something physical into my day; that isn't my job. (also I would like to be fit enough to keep up at work without falling to pieces by the end of the day) "Thankfully, Mr. Tea wasn't having a mid-apocalypse crisis, having armed himself with his hockey stick and now dragging the sidebar across the front door. He shouted my name and I started to help him. That was until "Crash!" Through the glass back door. They were in! Mr. Tea cursed and ran at them. I squealed like a girl and ran for the kitchen. Sharp objects, Fire, Electrical equipment! Excellent! I grabbed the closest thing I could reach; my frypan. Still dirty from dinner and rusting from old age and misuse. More of that to follow. I heard a moan close behind me to my shoulder and swung the pan. Mr. Tea ducked as I swung wildly where the head of a zombie had been moments before. He only glared briefly before looking at the back door. The zombies has stopped coming through... For now. "Grab anything important! We might have to get out of here in a minute." I nodded and ran from the lounge room to the bedroom to the office, looking for things to grab. Yarn? no. Batteries? Probably. Underwear? Yeah maybe. Crap, how unorganised is our house? How am I supposed to find anything? What do I class as important? Why didn't I ask these questions until now?!" Shelter: Pick one spot in the house a week to clean up and organise. (0 / 6 points) pick a spot. Sort into keep / trash / donateables. Put donatables into back of car. Throw out trash immediately. Plan new homes / new storage for keepable items. There's only room for important things in the apocalypse, and they have to be organised for living a long time in the place you're staying, if it happens to be your safe zone. Otherwise, it needs to be organised so that you can up and leave at a moment's notice, or grab that thing you knew would come in handy for fighting zombies one day. I need to clean up the dark corners of the house so when I clean up in general the place actually looks cleaner. "I ran back to the dining room where Mr. Tea had just taken down another zombie by plugging in the circular saw that had been sitting in its box in the corner of the lounge room for months. I hadn't decided whether I should have told him there was bits of zombie in his beard before he told me to take stock of whatever food we had and how long we could survive on it. I ran back to the kitchen. There was a few ends of vegetables, a few cans of things like tomatoes, some packets of noodles... If we had to survive on this I was going to have to get creative. Hopefully the zombies hadn't trampled my garden yet because those sad little vegetables could very well be the only thing sustaining us after a while." Food: Eat one serve of vegetables a day. (0 / 42 points) Tend the garden twice a week. ( 0 / 12 points) It's important to get your greens for a healthy diet to fuel your lifestyle; more so when your life revolves around always potentially having to fight or flee at any given time. Also being able to supply your own food when the fast food places are overrun with zombies seems like a good idea. No Hungry Jacks in the apocalypse. "By the time I'd got the food sorted Mr. Tea had managed to push a sofa and the dining table up against the back door, and hushed my crashing and banging in the cupboard. "I think that's all of them. Now don't break anything or be too loud and they might forget we're here. Call anyone you can. See who's okay and what useful stuff or advice they can give us." Company: Get out and about with someone once a week. ( 0 / 6 points) e.g. Walk the dogs, Have coffee / lunch together Everyone needs a support crew, and other people need supporting. Some of my friends are going through rough patches right now and I want to be there for them; and others I just like to see quite often because I have valuable friendships with them and don't get to see them often enough. Loners rarely survive happily in the apocalypse without turning into psychopaths. "I called around. Thankfully the phones hadn't gone yet. Some people didn't answer immediately but were grateful to hear intelligent speech instead of the groans of the undead. We were going to have to gather ourselves and our supplies if we had any hope of surviving this long term. I hung up the phone. Mr. Tea was sitting on the couch staring at a wall. I sat next to him and breathed out. Felt like my first one in a while. I looked at him and asked, "What do we do now?" Purpose: Find a reason to get out of bed every day. Post to the forums. (0 / 42 points) I'm struggling with a reason for me even being on this planet, so lacking a overarching purpose as of yet, I'm going to focus on just getting myself up every day. I need to find a reason - even the smallest one - for getting up in the morning and knowing that I'm not wasting my days away on mindlessness. I will post it to my battle log, or maybe even make a separate topic if other people feel like the exercise may be worth their while. Epic Quest: HAVE SOMETHING WORTH LIVING FOR. Current Quest: Find something to get out of bed for every day. Completing this challenge will get you; 15 stat points and; A: A Shiny new frypan. B: A New pair of Chucks. C: The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. D / F: Your life. You escaped this time, but don’t think you’ll be so lucky next time!

After hitting a slump during my sixth challenge I decided to "quit" on that one and take some time to focus on other things in my life. I was starting a new job (which is going well), and dealing with some other things. Most of that is sorted out now, I kicked a bout of depression I was having and overall am feeling positive in coming back here. I decided it was also time to get back to basics, refocus on my original goals coming to NF, and start fresh. I was pushing myself a bit too hard to branch out in my last two challenges and they suffered as a result. So without further ado... History: A bit of background may help. This will be my seventh challenge on NF - although I didn't complete anything past week one from my sixth, so I'm calling it my sixth. My goals when I started on NF last August were to lose weight, reach a 32 inch waist, drop below 10% body fat and build strength. Not to mention nail those pesky salmon ladders... Since then my goals have changed. I lost over 50 pounds, maintaining about 160 currently, my waist is hovering at 31 inches, and I'm at about 12% body fat. I feel good, and if I may say so, I look good. So, looking at my first second challenge (my first was... poorly designed due to lack of guidance in the level 1 group at the time), I've decided to revisit some of those goals and help bring myself back to what I originally wanted to achieve, and continue on that path: Main Quest: Drop to 8% BF, eliminate stomach fat. Squat 1.5x Bodyweight, Deadlift 2x bodyweight. OHP, Bench and Row 1x bodyweight. These continue to be my overarching body goals. I'm getting pretty close, and this challenge I'm going to refocus on the basics to help get me there. As always, in order to hit this goal I am driving forward with several sub goals, which will be worked into this challenge. Steadily increase my Squat, Deadlift and Pull Ups in weight and number.Do Salmon Ladder Pull-Ups. Because... seriously.I also want to, eventually, get my mile-run speed down to 7 minutes solid. (Not a focus this challenge)Quest 1: Eat Paleo - One of my biggest challenges during the last 8 weeks or so has been my eating. I've just been... eating to eat, and I need to bring that back under control - primarily the amount of sugar I'm eating. It's mostly from fruit, but it's still in the 50-60+ grams a day range. So, the goal is eating 90% paleo/primal, and keeping my sugar intake under 50g a day (closer to 30 if I can). Quest 2: Lift Heavy - I've also been slacking on the gym, having only gone 3 times in the last three weeks (yeah...). So quest 2 is to lift heavy three times a week, with regularity, and focus on the strength progression of the Stronglifts program. We MAY be switching gyms in the middle of the challenge (for those of you who know the story, yes this is still an ongoing battle), but that shouldn't interrupt anything. Quest 3: Be Flexible/Mobile - Beyond strength, I also want to focus on my mobility and flexibility, which gives this quest a two-pronged goal - Yoga 3 times a week and walking at least 6 miles a week, a total of 40 miles over the course of the challenge. Both doable. Life Quest: Clean Up the Clutter - My ongoing quest to make it look like we didn't just move into our apartment (that we've lived in for almost three years now). Goal is to consolidate at least two boxes into one box every week, and sell, throw out or give away at least one item every week. Currently trying to sell some records, Magic cards and a few other items on eBay. I also have a kitten that we rescued during the last challenge that I'm trying to find a home for - hopefully all can be accomplished during these six weeks. Personal Quest: Save - My fiancee and I have been focusing on our budget a lot recently and our struggle with saving (toward our wedding), so my last goal, rather than being fitness oriented, is another life goal - save more. I have a strategy for this, but it essentially boils down to spend less. Less booze, less eating out (which happens infrequently anyway) and less wasted money on trivial things. My new job, plus the things I'm trying to sell, should help with this. My fiancee is also looking for a job - that would turn things around 180° if it happened... So there you have it. Ravnos' seventh sixth challenge! Let's do this!

For all the zombie fanatics out there, or anyone looking for a great apocalypse survival story, you might want to check this one out. It's called We're Alive - A Zombie Story of Survival. Check it out if you like, it's on it's 4th and final season. All the episodes are free on iTunes and on their website. I'm addicted to it and have re-listened several times. The quality they put in this story is great, the sound effects and actors they have are amazing. www.zombiepodcast.com

Continuing Main Quest:Under 200 Lbs by 30th birthday (12/04/14). Mini Quests: 1. Get Stronger [sTR +3]Increased upper body strength through Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, Chin-Ups, Bench Press, DB Fly, etc. A = 10+ Pull-Ups In A RowB = 5 Pull-Ups In A RowC = 10 Chin-Ups In A RowD = 5 Chin-Ups In A RowF = <5 Chin-Ups In A Row 2. Run Faster [DEX +3] [sTA +3]Beat high school best 1 mile time of 8:00/Mi through interval training and increased mileage. A = Faster than 8:00/MiB = 8:00-8:30/MiC = 8:30-9:00/MiD = 9:00-9:30/MiF = Slower than 9:30/Mi 3. Clean Eating [CON +3] [WIS +1]Incorporate larger amounts and greater variety of produce (Fruits/Veg) into my diet.Fast food and Beer negate all progress for the day. A = Average of 7+ servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekB = Average of 6+ Servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekC = Average of 5+ Servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekD = Average of 4+ Servings of Any Produce per day in a given weekF = Average of <4 Servings of Any Produce per day in a given week 4. Life Quest [WIS +2]Put away money to fund our Europe Trip ($1500+) A = Saved $1000+B = Saved $750-1000C = Saved $500-750D = Saved $250-500F = Saved <$250 Starting Stats (14 Apr 2014):Weight 218.6 lbsWaist 42"Hips 42"Chest 40.5"Biceps 15.5" & 15.5"Legs 25" & 25"Calves 16" & 16"Neck 15.5" After a rough end to the last challenge, I'm back at it with new goals, new drive, and greater success. I have revised the grading system to be more encouraging, as the points system last time did not work. No more daily goals, instead focusing on weekly averages to maintain morale and focus. I'm also not going to follow 30+ people like last time, as I ended up reading everyone's posts many days later and without contributing much. This approach will make me a better community member by being more producer than consumer. The focus of my workouts is on doing upper body workouts at home with dumbbells (Bench, Fly, Shoulder Press, Front Raise...etc) during the evenings (commercials lol) roughly every other day, and Interval running in the mornings before work. I'll be eating a loosely paleo diet, with the main emphasis being on more vegetables. I considered adding a Walking Dead / Survival theme to this challenge like I have done in the past, but don't want to get too distracted by this.

To the zombie enthusiasts out here... U.S. States Most And Least Likely To Survive The Zombie Apocalypse AK Represent

Trying something new this challenge. As the intro song suggests, I've been having trouble seeing the forest through the trees lately, and it's time for me to refocus and remotivate myself - remind myself why I'm doing what I do and get back on track for my goals. Lately it's just been a struggle to care about some things. So this challenge we are going to kick the Caring back into gear and remind ourself what it is we do the things that we do for. Main Quest: Drop to 8% BF, 32" waist. This continues to be my overarching body goal. I'm getting pretty close, but this challenge I am adding an addition to it. I also adjusted the BF% goal from 6 to 8 percent... just because. The addition is - Squat 1.5x Bodyweight, Deadlift 2x bodyweight. OHP, Bench and Row 1x bodyweight. In order to hit this goal I am driving forward with several sub goals, which will be worked into this challenge. Steadily increase my Squat, Deadlift and Pull Ups in weight and number.Do Salmon Ladder Pull-Ups. Because... seriously.I also want to, eventually, get my mile-run speed down to 7 minutes solid. Two things to keep in mind as we go into this challenge: PAX East happens during the break after this challenge and the snow should be melting/warmer weather occurring. To this end I need to work more outdoor training in as the challenge progresses. Quest 1: Strength of the waterfall [sTR] Continue Stronglifts 5x5. I made some impressive progress last challenge, I need to keep it up. Possible 3/3 points each week. Starting lifts: Squat: 130 lbBench: 110 lbOHP: 90 lbRow: 110 lbDeadlift: 185 lb Lifting goals by end of Challenge: Squat: 215 lbBench: 150 lbOHP: 130 lbRow: 150 lbDeadlift: 265 lbQuest 2: Steady as the mountain, Flexible as the sapling [CON + DEX] Strength has to be build on a solid foundation, or there is no true power behind it. In order to develop my foundation, I need to focus on two things: Health and Mobility. This is a two-fold quest to focus on both my diet and my flexibility. This means maintaining my primal diet throughout the challenge (7/7 possible points each week), and performing 10 minutes of yoga each workout day (3/3 points per week). In addition, I also have to eat enough calories to continue building strength. Minimum of 1850 calories a day. Quest 3: Calm as the lake [WIS] Last challenge I focused on writing more often and meditating. I succeeded with writing but failed miserably with the meditation, so I'm simplifying this challenge and focusing solely on the meditation. Meditate twice a week, that's it. Side Quest: Visit and attend the Greater Boston Zen Center once a week - No points lost if I don't achieve this. +1 if I do for at least half the challenge (3 out of 6 weeks). Life Quest: Return to my roots [CHA] I've always been a musical person. I find a lot of my center in listening to and performing music. I've been neglecting songwriting for my band lately in favor of other things (one of them being fitness). I need to get back into. Plus my bandmates are giving my shit for not writing lyrics to a song that has been finished for 3 months now, haha. I need to finish two songs before the end of the challenge. Bonus: +1 point if I have them both finished by the end of week 3, another +1 if I write more than two by the end of the challenge. Bonus Quest: Defeat the demon [ALL] Participating in a dungeon-crawl style side quest with my accountabilibuddies, I will need to participate in each week's side-quest, and will award points based on those goals for this part of my own challenge. I will update this with a link when it becomes available. In addition to these quests that I will be undertaking over the next six weeks, I'm also going to revisit and present myself with a weekly goal at the start of each week. This will keep my focused and help me adjust my efforts for maximum benefit. Let the games begin.

I wasn't going to do one of these. I don't have the energy or desire for frequent posting, but I realized I could use a little help just keeping on keeping on. I'm a mess. Feeding myself is a daily challenge. My apartment looks about like a crack house squat. Leaving the apartment has become unusual enough to be a really big deal. This time, my goals are literally subsistence level. 1. Eat I'm starting a new diet, Sean's Sanity Diet. The rules are pretty simple. Eat what it takes to stay sane. If I'm feeling great and have the emotional energy for it, then it is pretty close to paleo, but when I'm close to the bottom, even McDonalds hamburgers would be a win. I'm not eating for fat loss or performance. I'm eating to sustain myself. The measurable goal is 2 distinct meals a day, though distinct meal is a pretty flexible idea. Four sandwiches in one sitting is one meal. Half a sandwich now, and another half in a couple hours is two meals. The point is frequency, not volume. 2. Move Do something explicitly for exercise twice a week. Aerials class counts. Stuff I do between buses in the morning does not count. Walking three or more miles home after work does. A handstand workout does. You get the idea. 3. Clean Make a real effort to improve the cleanliness of my apartment at least once a week. Bag up and take out at least one bag of trash. Wash all the dishes. Pick up the mess. Break down and take out boxes. It doesn't matter what, but each week should be better than the last, even just marginally. Bonus: Don't isolate. At least once a week, make an effort to connect with someone outside of my inner circle. I'm low enough right now that posting in someone else's thread on NF may count for this. I'm still undecided. Welcome to January, when depression kicks my ass. I'm lonely, depressed, and barely functional. The things I like are too much effort. The things I don't seem insurmountably, devastatingly difficult.

Epic Fitness Quests · Body Weight Exercise (without stopping) o 50 pushups without stopping o 100 squats without stopping o 3 minute front plank o 10 pull-ups · Running o Run a 6 minute mile o Run 5 miles in less than 45 minutes Epic Health Quests · Weight between 175 – 190 lbs · Fit into size 32 pants (comfortably) · Have normal cholesterol levels (without drugs) · Have normal blood pressure (without drugs) · Have normal testosterone levels (without drugs) · Have a resting heart rate less than 70 BPM · Live without Anti-depressant medication Epic Personal Life Quests · Gain 30 days of sobriety 2/22/2014 · Gain 90 days of sobriety · Gain 6 months of sobriety · Gain 1 Year of sobriety · Gain 3 Years of sobriety · Gain 5 Years of sobriety (etc…) · Quit Smoking Quit date 2/24/2014 · Save 6 months of my salary · Create and record music · Learn to sing · Read “Moby Dick†Epic Career Quests · Obtain my CCNP · Obtain my CCNP (wireless) · Obtain my CCDP · Become an authorized Cisco trainer · Write a book related to the IT industry Epic Adventure Quests · Complete 100 + mile through hike of an awesome trail (AT, PCT, etc…) · Become proficient at rock climbing and bouldering · Try ice climbing · Learn some sweet free running moves · Learn to sail · Learn paddle board · Learn to surf · Go skydiving · Go bungee-jumping

This might seem a bit backwards from the whole ideal behind primal/paleo food but I have run into a problem. I spend a lot of my time out in the woods away from things like refrigeration and a viable heat source. I am also on the move a lot and have to pack light with minimal space for food. As far as I know the Army hasn't developed a Paleo MRE so I am at a loss. What can I carry in a backpack, with minimal space, no refrigeration, and have enough to keep me going through out my day

Main Quest Train and prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse. Hydrate - If I have Coffee or energy drinks I must drink water also in a 1/4oz ratio of energy/water. Minimum water intake of 101oz. Other hydration should come from food. Ration - Track food consumption and caloric deficit. I have been mood eating, which I should not be doing. Optimally I want to switch over to Primal, however this is not a goal since everything is unstable for me right now and sometimes I have to eat what I can get. Defend - Make time not excuses for circuits. I have not been doing them because I'm not waking up before the sun kills all hope of a good outside workout. I need to get up early because I'm too tired at night to do them. I must work out a minimum 3 times a week. This is two hard days and one more gentle. I give myself room to change my sets, depending on weather. It's smack in the middle of Monsoon Season here. Pulls ups, Pushups, Core, flag practice. Squats, handstand, grip strength, core, flag practice.End Goal for circuits: Human Flag - This goal stretches outside of challenge, but is what I’m working toward. Challenge goal is just to stay active. Continue to wake up early and do a routine of sorts. If I can do the human flag hopefully I can hold myself out of Zombie reach? Life Quest Prepare - Where I normally only had a 3/4 item 'to do list' I've let get into 20-30 items where I have pushed tasks off to the last minute. I must be able to mark 2 things off either my work, personal or home lists. Side Quests Wit - Read 60 minutes a day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qc8fqaRy8II Motivation