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I'm finishing up my vacation and after some thinking about how I'm living and what my strengths and weaknesses are. I need to focus on simple daily habits. Exercise Breath-work while the coffee brews Morning walks-- take coffee, listen to audio books, and walk around the neighborhood. (Lift barbells or KBs on rainy days). Eating Breakfast can be normal. After that, all meals at work will be one taco (or similar item) at a time followed by a walk around the shop. Reading and writing Do at least one writing activity on the evening-- even a single sprint or some editing. Stretch before reading. Read before bed.

I made a video for you guys. Enjoy and get healthy!

Challenge 01 Goals: Quest 01: Strength - Three bodyweight workouts per week (using the Reddit routine). Reward: I'll get stronger? Or at least feel stronger? Maybe lose some weight? Those sound like likely rewards, right? Quest 02: Walk - Walk 5.25 hours a week with the strict purpose of exercise. This works out to 45 min a day. I set the metric based on a per week basis to account for inclement weather (this is late autumn in Canada). Walks must be done in blocks of at least 30 minutes. Regular old walking doesn't count, this has be walking carried out at a fast pace with the purpose of getting the heart rate up. Reward: I feel better. Quest 03: Teetotaling - No more booze, at least not for four weeks, I will then access how I feel about it. This will be pass or fail. Luckily no weddings, holidays, or other big social occasions are set to occur during this time frame. Reward: Less calories in, more energy, less anxiety (maybe), clearer head, save money, and maybe more? Life Quest 04: Track My Money Daily (a la "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin) - I started this in October, but I flubbed a few days. It is far from being a habit. I need to focus on making this a habit so I can figure out where all my money goes. Reward: Fiscal awareness, and thus more savings and less debit. I hope. Bonus/For Fun... Quest? Challenge? Thinger? - At the end of each challenge, cook, photograph, and post (with recipe) a new taco. The Really Long Backstory "I used to be much stronger!" - Old Guy from the Wedding Singer, when he punches Glen Goulia at the bar. I once was on track, from obese couch potato to fitness fanatic, I spent nearly three years doing 5 strength work outs a day, running nearly everyday for up to 15km, and counting calories and ingesting half my calories as protean powder based liquids. Yet I never managed to manage my drinking, and eventually I imploded. I woke up, nearly a year later, 50lbs heavier, a sore knee, stiff limbs, and barely able to run 5km. What really woke me up was when I ran into an old co-worker, who only knew the fit version of me, unabashedly remarked, "Wow, you got fat." The desire to get drunk and binge eat tacos was never so strong as that moment. But I was also mad, very, very mad. Mad at him, but more so at myself. Took a couple months of self-loathing to get over it and now I am here. Some Challenges Anxiety issues cause me to want to drink to avoid feeling... feelings, I guess. By giving up alcohol, I risk getting sucked into other traps like marijuana or Netflix. I cannot let that happen. I need to face the discomfort in life. (Cold shower therapy? Meh... Maybe not in Canada during winter, that'll be a summer challenge.) I work on road in construction. For every six nights I spend at home, I spend eight nights in a cheap hotel, often with no gym and never a kitchen. My coworkers love to go out for wings and beer after work several times a seek. (Several? There are only seven days in a week? Exactly.) I need to find ways to eat healthy in a hotel working with nothing but a microwave and an electric kettle. (And maybe a flavor wave of electric grill that I will buy. Suggestions?) I have a full gym at home, with free weights and pull-up bars. However, I want to focus, for now, on bodyweight (and maybe this kettle bell) until I get back into the swing of things. I can do a bodyweight workout in any hotel and there is no excuse. **Written on an iPad, so the formatting might be a little wonky. When I get infront of a proper computer, I may fix this up. And when I get home (Nov 1st) I can do a weigh-in.