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Greetings! This challenge, I'm simplifying the goal structure to just focus on the physical realm. In previous challenges, I've sought to balance body, mind, heart, and soul, but have found that 1) I always forget half of it and 2) a lot of it is already habit that I just need to sustain. And 3) if I'm doing well in the other realms it shows up in making my workouts, so this is the one to monitor at least for now. So, these are the goals: 1. Rack up 20 hours of martial arts training. I recently recertified as a white belt and am now on the track to recert yellow, which requires a minimum of 36 training hours. 2 classes per week plus 2 training sessions (hip rehab, flexibility, and stability work) should add up to 4 hours weekly, or 20 hours across the challenge. I'll let zero week build in some buffer space, and I'll let 18 hours count as a minimal success if necessary. I'll post biometric screenshots to remind me to check in regularly. 2. Immediately after my test, I had a terrible bout of vertigo. I've made an appointment to get checked out, but it's not until January. In the meantime, I need to reduce salt, reduce caffeine, hydrate better, and monitor my symptoms to have some data for the doctor. We need to figure out if it's benign positional vertigo or Meniere's disease, so here comes the spreadsheet! Good luck, everyone!

When I was a kid, I took a personality test (this was in the days before social media...it was printed on a sheet of paper, and you had to write your answers with a pencil). It was one of those tests that asked you to imagine a journey, and to describe the things you saw on it. At one point, the adventurer came to a fork in the road before an impenetrable wood - one path was broad and smooth, and followed a gently flowing river; the other narrow and ascending to trace the edge of a rocky cliff. Which path would you choose? I said, "I go straight ahead, cutting my way into the woods." On the "other side" of the wall of vines and brush, I imagined a thick overhead canopy, but a cool and leaf-strewn floor with puddles of water from recently fallen rain. I bent and took a drink, then plunged ahead. In this phase of life I continue to emerge from years of contemplation in which I tried to move away from a more aggressive nature and make peace with the world as it is. To a certain extent, that has been helpful. But there is a part of me that has been neglected, and the long road to integration requires that I plunge into some difficult terrain from time to time. In this challenge I will continue to reintegrate martial arts practice, further re-wild my diet, and press onward in the way of the peaceful warrior. Body: Fuel - 6 cups of colorful fruits and veggies daily minimum (target 9), plus clean protein and healthy fat for balanced macros and calories. Hydrate - 4 liters of water per day (green tea counts) Strengthen - minimum 2x aerobic run & 2x taekwon-yo (taekwondo with yoga and pilates conditioning) weekly (Target 3 each) Mind: Sleep - to bed by 11, up by 5:30 on weekdays -- we're trying a shorter sleep window as a minimum and counting the fifth cycle as a plus. Happiness Project - prune dead end "wants" (projects I'll never actually do), practice mindful enjoyment when negative self-talk starts Read - non-fiction audiobooks on commute, fiction at night Soul: Home - do something daily to improve the family home, beyond chores (actual do it this time) Meditate - daily in morning or bedtime or both, micro-meditations throughout the day Friendship - stop to listen, ground anxiety, seek connection. No points, just doing my best. Happy hunting!

Hi! I’m Ingagr and once again at respawn point (ouch!) I got back to practicing taekwondo in july 2020, started caring for my meals (again, once again) by the start of january 2021 and now I believe am ready to get back to the Rebellion. My goals for this challenge are: 1) Weight loss: 7,5 kg. To achieve this I will focus on caring about my meals, performing 2-3 NF begginers bodyweight training per week, going to bed not so late and practicing taekwondo 2-3 per week. 2) Learn/Practice Taekwondo’s 5th form: Taeguk O Jang. I will attempt to practice it daily, adding moves. 3) Throw away stuff I don’t need, 1 per day, everyday: This goal explains by itself, everyday a useless to me thing must leave my house. Thanks to all for the support, I will be reporting here almost daily. See you! SUMMARY Week 0: Weight 129,1kg. 5th Form to learn and practice. Lot of stuff to get rid of. Week 1: Weight 127,8kg. 5th Form being learned and practiced. Lot of stuff left my house. Great week! Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5:

Hello to everyone! I'm Ingagr, just turned 38 and been overweighted for 15 years. Back then I used to play rugby, strenght train and low speed medium distance running for cardio three times a week. I got married, a degree in forestry engineering, a house, a couple of dogs and a small pack of cats. I quit all my sporty activities, settle down as sedentary and started gaining weight. One good new: four years ago I managed to quit smoking. Now I feel I can move forward and begin training and building healthy habits. So I sign up at a gym (functional, bodyweight train, strength train and cardio mostly) by june (winter here deep south america in Argentina) and two weeks ago I started to take care of my nutrition. I am not going in any restrictive diet. Opposite to that I eat whatever I want, "just" measuring myself in the quantities I eat. Of course "whatever I want" does not mean junky food, sugars, sodas, etc. I am trying to take baby steps, one by one, building healthy habits, focusing in changes rather than objectives. For example: my objectives are not weight losing but not to skip my workouts and take care of my meals. Weight loss will be a consequense of my objective but not an objective itself. My height is 1.88 m (sorry to Americans, I use metric system ). I started with a weight of 135,5 kg and today I am 130,8 kg. Weekend was fine, went hiking everyday with my dogs to the park a few blocks near my house, care about meals. Saturday night I ate home made pizza (a tradition here) and a half liter can of beer. As I said, I do not any restrictive diet! Today I made my bed early in the morning after waking up, went to work and after I'm going to gym to workout. I will try to keep this log updated daily. Thank you all for the support. For the rebellion!

September 15-16, I will be driving up to Connect-i-cut for "First Look", which is a training session to demonstrate skill, coachability, attitude, etc. for eligibility to train with Team USA and compete in the 2019 Unified Taekwondo World Championships. If I am accepted after First Look, I am automatically qualified to compete as an individual and to train with the team all year. Final decisions on who will be on the roster for team events will be in July 2019. So, First Look is the first step. Goal#1: Still don't be stupid I am off rest for my planar fasciitis as of Friday, Aug 10, but I need to EASE back into full activity so I don't have a setback in recovery. Also, need to keep up the stretching to prevent recurrence. Goal#2: Reach a good fighting weight This will NOT be accomplished by the end of this challenge, but I should make good progress. I am following a IIFYM type diet plan, so 1g of protein per lb (more or less), and reduced carbs, but not really low-carb. Really focusing on getting that protein this challenge. Goal#3: Just do the work 5 sessions per week on the Fusion CST + at least 5 minutes a day x 6 days practicing kicks. Both of these are grind sessions for me. I'd rather be practicing pattern, but I need to improve my cardio, strength, and high section kicks, so here we go.

Greetings! I am back for another attempt at maintaining a public challenge log! I just completed my first belt testing. I was well prepared and passed even though I did not perform as well as I would have liked. It was the most nerve racking 90 seconds of my 30s. I do not get my belt until next week at an awards ceremony, but I was not asked to repeat anything which means I did well enough. I have another testing of sorts coming up this week. I have applied for a post-professional fellowship at the VA hospital in my city and have an interview on Wednesday. This is my third attempt at such fellowships and the interview is only supposed to last 4 hours which is greatly preferred to the 8 hour interviews at the other sites. Obtaining a fellowship is not required in my profession (occupational therapy), but I am really hopeful. This will be my final attempt at such a fellowship before I apply for the public health service corps. My goals for this period: - Work: Complete documentation without 48 hours of seeing clients -TKD: 3 classes per week, minimum -Diet: No fast food I will continue with my prior goals of sleeping and exercising and reading and meditating. Those are all going very well. Good luck to everyone this cycle!

Today, I signed up for traditional taekwondo classes at a local establishment that comes highly recommended by a friend who has been practicing for a few decades now. I have been taking a class here and there to experience a variety of martial arts and have decided upon taekwondo as a primary school for two not very great reasons: 1) Pricing: There was a really excellent deal for the summer months and competitive pricing thereafter 2) A friend: I have a very knowledgeable friend who is able to help me along and who once taught at this particular place The reason I chose SOMETHING, however, is that I feel as though I will get more from other disciplines if I have some sort of framework to apply the given knowledge. And I am posting here because I do not know whereelse to post. I do not have an excellent track record in terms of finishing these challenges but I am optimistic because I am starting late and have only one goal. Goal: Go to taekwondo classes I think I've got this.

in the spirit of SAY WHAT YOU WANT AND GET WHAT YOU NEED I took a hard look at my feelings right now and realized a few things: 1. I feel like I'm in a holding pattern. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for - january, when my husband is not at school on tuesdays and thursdays and I can try to do bigger weights at the dojo? the holidays so I can figure out if I'm going to gain weight again like I did last time? 2. I'm bummed that I gained weight last year over the holidays and held onto it all year. I mean, I'm bummed that 2 years ago I gained weight after the holidays and got out of my "goal range" and haven't lost that weight either. 2a. I'm bummed that I feel like I'm in a holding pattern with this too? like, I know how to take action, why am I not taking action? so goals! 1. Be deliberate and careful as I walk through the holiday season yo don't get frustrated again this year, ok? which means... prioritize daily tracking of food again. get it all in, every day. prioritize daily weighs, too. 2. Be deliberate about moving. it turns out I don't like running right now (because I don't seem to be doing it). Ok, that's fine. do 3x bodyweight every week. do 2x yoga every week also. soooo this is a M-W-F schedule for BW, and a T-Th for yoga. I can do this. for bodyweight I'm looking at the academy... it's been ages since I've done anything there. I think I'm at level 3? according to the things? just, whatever. Just do those workouts this week (week 1). 3. Be deliberate about push-ups! dude, you say you want to do these all the time. so learn how to do them already! use the start bodyweight progression for push-ups. SELF, you can DO THIS. do it every day. 3 sets of 8, every day. 4. BE DELIBERATE ABOUT SLEEP. a lot of my issues with exercising is that I'm waaaaaay too tired. no screens in bed any more. don't read until the wee hours. get into bed at 9-9:15, and go to sleep. get up at 5AM. there, easy, right?

Given: that things are super busy for me. My dad is still in the hospital 3 1/2 hours away from me. His NY house needs to be cleared out because they sold it, and my sibs and I are helping out (closing date late april / early may). work is work and I get uptight about it because my husband is a full time student this semester and I feel strongly that I canNOT mess up. oh and also, a tree fell on my house last challenge and we are coordinating with repair people to fix a tiny hole in the roof (BTW WE WERE SO LUCKY) and a window and some other stuff. Basically, I'm jumping and reacting to needs, and uncertainty is the only certain thing. Given: That I always do better with fitness and junk when I'm here and hanging out with you amazing peeps. Given: my 40th birthday is on April 15th! Given: Something started to work again for me last challenge. I got back into the gym, and my weight started to dip down. AND, I was being active because it was the right and desired *choice,* not because I am totally freaked out about my weight or about "catching" congestive heart failure. THEREFORE: This challenge I need to just have fun, don't let it stress me out (further), but stick to plan. but what is plan...? Goal 1: Show up and Be Friends This means: post daily, as best as I can. even if it's just house and cat pictures. BECAUSE I HEART YOU AND YOU ARE GOOD FOR ME. Goal 2: Don't Mess With a Good Thing Keep doing what I was doing last challenge, which is to say: aim for some kind of exercise or movement 5-6 days a week on purpose. Keep tracking food, and aim to not eat back exercise calories. I'm not going to track photos, or measurements, or anything. I know they're good to do. They're not fun and not my first priority, though, so I am not going to stress this challenge. Goal 3: HAVE FUN, you dinglebat! Things that are fun: * Knit - I still haven't freakin' finished my xmas knitting. what. * bake bread - it turns out I am deriving a great deal of personal satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment from baking sourdough bread. * Take days off before my bday and build adirondack chairs. * plan a beautiful yard and buy seeds and start seeds so they will grow in the yard. IT TURNS OUT that the starting date for seeds in my area is around the days that I'm taking off, too! * track things in my hobobujo, because it's calming and fun and dorky. * also, whatever else I want to do. because: Oh and PS. I am probs going to start this challenge ONE DAY EARLY so which is to say SATURDAY START because *see earlier "I do what I want" statement.*

Hello! I'm a new assassin, so let me introduce myself! This is my 7th challenge overall and before, I was posting in rebels, because I was still deciding what my workout style/class was. I play volleyball and I just started taking Tae Kwon Do. When I workout on my own, it's usually a mix of short (1-3 mile) runs and bodyweight exercises (plyos). I'm always mixing up the way that I work out (I get bored easily), but I thought the Assassin way was most my style. At the end of last year, I was working on a research paper, studying for the GRE test, and applying to Master's programs and that took up the majority of my focus. As you can probably imagine, there was a fair amount of stress eating and exercise took a back seat. This year I want to ingrain the mindset that my health should be my number one priority. Without further ado, my goals: Main Goals Fitness: 10 pushups and 10 bodyweight squats every day (X/7) - I wanted to start this so I could do one small, regular thing to improve overall conditioning Diet: No unplanned snacks (-1% every occurrence) - Basically, no snacks for meals, and no random candy/cookies/etc. just because they're sitting there. Grazing snacks to get from one meal to another without being miserable are allowed (e.g. apples and PB, cheese, seaweed), but only if they're planned in advance! Level up 1: Floss every day (X/7) - This is part of my challenges until it becomes second nature Level up 2: Turn on the light when alarm goes off (X/7) - I did this in one of my previous challenges to help me actually get up on time. It worked really well! Then the challenge ended and I stopped doing it, so this one will also be making a regular appearance until it becomes second nature. Bonus Goals (+1% every occurrence, up to 100%) Fitness: Go for a run - X so far Diet: Low carb meal - X so far Level up: Study Tarot - X so far To explain my system: main goals are things that I want to do regularly. These are usually small and achievable even when things are kinda crazy in life. My bonus goals are things that I want to focus on, but if I get derailed, don't detriment my overall progress. Bonus goals are icing on the cake - I feel an extra shot of success when I get them done, but don't chastise myself when they don't work out for whatever reason. Loot So I'm still trying to find a way to motivate myself while staying within my means. I have a tight budget generally, and especially now that I started taking TKD lessons. Separate from NF loot goals, I budgeted some money that, if I keep a close eye on my gas/groceries/sundry budget, essentially becomes "fun money" for me. If I blow my other budget though, obviously this goes towards paying the difference. To tie this in with my NF goals, I think I'll only get to spend whatever percentage I earned through the challenge. So if I have $100 at the end of the 4 weeks to spend, and I get a 60% overall grade on my challenge, then I'll have $60 to spend on whatever I want. The rest will go either into savings or towards paying down student loans. This is the first month I'm trying this, so we'll see how it goes!

Technically, my birthday is on Wednesday, but in the interest of convenience, I celebrated it with my loved ones this past Sunday. It is a reflection on my personality that it was a costume party (I was an elf) and my gifts were a Fitbit and a set of sparring gear. *Side note: I am so happy to get my own set of gear. I have been using the dojang's very, very used gear for sparring, and I hated it. Anyway, my Fitbit (and accompanying app) has a wide range of features that I will be using this challenge to get a bit more fit. Without further ado, the goals (with accompanying theme music): 1. All the Right Moves One of my favorite features of the Fitbit is the hourly reminder to get up and move around. I want to get in my steps, but also try to work in some crawls, pushups, pulls, and other movements each hour from 9am to 6pm, even if it is only a couple minutes. Hopefully having the reminder on my wrist will keep this from falling through the cracks like last challenge. 2. One Step Closer I want to take this challenge to focus on training the three Self-Defense One Steps I need to know for my belt test on December 16. Two are easy to practice at home, but for the third, I will have to summon my 20 seconds of courage and ask another student to help me practice either before or after class at least 3 times during the challenge. 3. Habits I'm feeling a little burned after last challenge's major diet fail. Especially with the holidays coming up, I'm not sure that a "no sugar" type challenge is wise. Instead, I am going to track calories with the Fitbit app, with a goal of staying within 50 calories of my daily intake goal (number varies according to activity). Hopefully with the gadget tracking my movements, I will get a more realistic assessment of how many calories that should be, and I'll avoid the blowback from being too low. I am also hopeful that the reminders to keep moving (goal #1) will save me from boredom eating. Here we go!

Top Ten Most Wanted fugitive Raymond "Red" Reddington has surrendered to the FBI. He is willing to deliver up his own "Blacklist" of dangerous criminals, but with one caveat: he will only work with me. Accepting this deal could make my career and teach me a lot I don't know about myself. Or it could destroy me. One thing is for certain: Everything will change. First Target: Anslo Garrick (No. 16) Anslo and his elite team have made it their mission to extract Red from the FBI black site. They are well trained, well armed, and well informed. No time to worry about the mole right now. I need a bigger gun. Goal: Get Big Guns This is the first step of a long journey to banish #limpnoodlearms from my vocabulary. For this challenge I will: Increase my incline pushups max reps per set from 8 to 12 (24" from the ground) L-Sit progression practice 3 days/week (Alternating Foot Lift) Movement Multivitamin - these are short, not-to-failure movement "snacks" throughout the day (pick at least 4 each day, 5 days/week): Pulling prep Dips Bear crawl Front Scales Hanging Knee Raise Rope-assisted Squat Walk 10 minutes Run 100m Second Target: Mako Tanida (No. 83) Tanida just escaped from prison and is looking for revenge on the FBI agents who killed his brother and took over his crime syndicate. He is ruthless, but he has an unusual commitment to Samurai code of honor. If I can prove myself honorable, I might just survive this encounter. Goal: Keep training for the Green Belt test in December Refine Dan-Gun teul Start learning One-Steps #6-8 Third Target: Berlin (No. 8) Berlin is an elusive foe who has declared a private war against Reddington. His plan is to bring Red down, along with anyone Red cares about. This is by far the biggest danger to my personal safety. Berlin has already infiltrated every part of my life and is wreaking havoc. He must be brought to justice. Sometimes, justice is a bullet. Goal: Die, Sugar, Die More than any other questionable dietary decision, I fall prey to sugar the most. If I ever want to make progress in the weight loss battle, sugar has to be brought under my control. The plan is to eat desserts only at social occasions. I know of two during the challenge (family birthdays on or about October 13 and October 20). One more unplanned event is allowed. So, 3 desserts allowed during the challenge. I can do this.

So, I dropped off the face of the Earth 8-9 months ago. While I have had some grand adventures (archery lessons, rock climbing, mud runs, and joining a dojang), I have kind of lacked focus, and definitely missed you Rebels. Anywho, not sure how challenging a challenge this is going to be, especially signing up a week late, but I want to ease back into things and get back on track. Goals! I has them! Taekwondo I finally joined a dojang in June, fulfilling a lifelong desire to study martial arts. I just picked up yellow belt (8th gup) last week, so I have a whole new slew of forms, one-steps, and memorization to work on before December testing. Goal 1. Attend at least two classes per week Goal 2. Learn/practice Dan Gun tul at least four days a week Food I don't have a specific food goal, but I want to spend some dedicated time each day reminding myself why it is important to me to pursue my athletic goals, including weight loss. I feel like this will help me more with willpower than a set of dietary rules right now. Goal 3: Spend at least 10 minutes a day answering the reflection questions from I Deserve a Donut.

For the last several months I've been thinking that my belly is not quite what I want it to be. For the last several months I've been trying not to focus too much on diet, because it's really important to me that I don't feel like I have to diet for the rest of my life. at some time I want to make sure that I can eat normally while maintaining. Last 2 challenges I bumped my food intake to about 2000 cal/day, with the hope that my metabolism wasn't totally screwed up, and I would say it's not, it seems to be ok. with all that understood: This challenge here is my terrifying goal: Do all the things I was going to do anyway, but cut by NOT EATING BACK CALORIES. exception is dojo sat. only if I do full crazy dojo workout. --> implications of this will be some kind of a cut, kinda, but not a crazy intense one. at the same time experiment with macros a little. try to fine tune diet a little more healthily --> implications of this: will be less beer during the week, for sure. less sweets. so, that's kind of a cut. NOTE that I'm not reducing from that 2000ish calories range, which is automagically calculated for me based on my daily weight by loseit. --> implications of this: I'm not really seriously cutting, not hard, anyway. just a little drop down. how will I tell it's working? UM I DON'T KNOW YET. --> implications of this: need to collect regular measurements. weight is weight. also tape measure 1-2x a week. photos weekly. so it's cut month, but, like, without the cut. um. I'm already doing it wrong THE KARINAJEAN WAY. challenge rationale: I've been doing this serious fitness lifestyle with various levels of seriousness for.... nearly 3 years now. I dropped a lot of weight and improved my fitness like WHOA. my weight and bodyshape changes have been stagnant for about 6-8 months, though, with the weight kind of creeping back up again by a few lbs. you know how you lose weight, and you are like WHOA, I look AMAZING, even though you're still not quite at goal? well, I have been kind of working through that spot and non-thinking about where I want my body to be, and I want to lose a little more weight and see if my belly goes away. it's sticking out still, a little more than I like. SO: July is a good month. It will be business as usual for most of the time. no vacations, no crazy travel, just home and family maintenance. this is a good time to have a nice routine month, and just focus on BODY CHANGES. what was I doing anyway? oh, you know, the regular. I'm not counting this, but I will write it down and share with you because, well. if I can't talk about overcommitting and overexerting here, then where can I? * TKD 2-3x a week * running - I have a 5-mile run scheduled for August 7th. so, need to run 3x a week to get to that distance more comfortably * yoga - I did this last challenge and it was really helpful. try to do more. * Hula Hooping - there's weekly hooping in a park that is not strictly near me, but would be amazing to attend * OH and there's this new thing called PokemonGO that is kind of awesome. ok and also backstory! I'm karinajean, 39, live in NY state, commute to NJ about an hour each way (so lots of time in the car). I joined the NFA in October 2013 and over the last 2 years I've gone from 206 to around 183. I practice tae kwon do several times a week, take weapons and boxing classes in addition, and have an overarching fitness goal of doing good form push- and pull-ups. I have a crazy mean (yet super sweet) cat and live with my husband full time and my stepdudes 1/2 time. I motorcycle, knit and spin, and am endlessly ignoring how messy the house AND YARD is. I'm an ASSASSIN because I like doing all the things, and because I want to be able to do push-ups and pull-ups -- these seem like very efficient movements that will exercise my upper body and core, and if I can do those and run and do martial arts (NINJA) I will feel totally strong and fit and capable. The MERMAID comes in because I saw it in a dream when I was a very young child and I believe it.

April was a gorgeous month full of birthday parties and CAKE. * actual photo of jello dishes and cake from my birthday party* I mean, cake was not the wrong thing to do in April. I had a birthday, and Seventeen had a birthday. there were office cakes and office sandwiches. all that said I got a boatload of things done and possibly? maybe? did ok on the food and fitness front? May needs to be a little more protein involved, and a little less eat all the cake I can find involved. so, fewer cakes unless they're brilliant and amazing. beer, yes, but not unless it's going to be enjoyed and relished. exercise! for sure. *** now let's be clear. I will continue to eat cake. but I want the cake (and all that cake stands for) to be WORTH IT. no more meaningless random cakes. only the cake that I love. *** OK GOALS I'm doing really good at tracking stuff. so this time let's aim for improvements, you know, things that I'm not great at doing. GOAL 1: MORE PROTEIN I need to eat more protein, I think. I'm averaging 88g and I'm curious to see what will happen if I can eat closer to 120g on average a day. or at least on days where I do silly things like exercise for 3 hours straight or run 5 miles. this is still less than the internet recommendation of 1 g per lb of lean body mass (that would put me closer to 135 g) but it's a good start. ALSO my work physical came back in today, and it says I'm slightly low on alkaline phosphatase, which might be an indication that I have not been eating enough protein. this was VERY SLIGHTLY LOW, but I'll go with it. GOAL 2: COME HERE MORE you guys I love it here, I love the atmosphere, I love YOU. I get a lot of energy and fun out of this group. it keeps me honest and steady. so, show up. at least 5x a week. GOAL 3: MORE DISCRETE AND USEFUL MEASUREMENTS * photos at least 2x during the challenge * use my goofy skuplt thingamabobby at least 4x during the challenge * measure at least 2x during the challenge. LEST WE FORGET WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT, THIS IS WHAT MY GOALS ARE IN SUPPORT OF: * I'm running a 10K on May 15. * I'm testing for my 4th degree black belt on May 21. other things I want for this month: * I want to either go camping, or spend family time with my brother et al on memorial day weekend. * it's spring and my yard is a mess and I need to BUY AND PLANT SOME BIG TREES and also MAYBE BUSHES. so get thee to the garden center/tree nursery. stat. * I need to get my attic dry-walled. Contractor came last week, they'll come again next week, and we will know what the damage will be and can get it scheduled. which then means moving all the things. * MY MOTORCYCLE OMG I am an embarrassment to any who call themselves motorcycle enthusiasts. get that thing on the road, post haste. * we really need to clear out another room for Seventeen to live in. he's a total dick right now, but he still deserves his own room. and then I can stop feeling guilty that he always wants to sleep at his mom's house, because I'll know it's all him being an age appropriate teenaged boy. ok and also backstory! I'm karinajean, 39, live in NY state, commute to NJ about an hour each way (so lots of time in the car). I joined the NFA in October 2013 and over the last 2 years I've gone from 206 to around 180. I practice tae kwon do several times a week, take weapons and boxing classes in addition, and have an overarching fitness goal of doing good form push- and pull-ups. I have a crazy mean (yet super sweet) cat and live with my husband full time and my stepdudes 1/2 time. I motorcycle, knit and spin, and am endlessly ignoring how messy the house AND YARD is. I'm an ASSASSIN because I like doing all the things, and because I want to be able to do push-ups and pull-ups -- these seem like very efficient movements that will exercise my upper body and core, and if I can do those and run and do martial arts (NINJA) I will feel totally strong and fit and capable. The MERMAID comes in because I saw it in a dream when I was a very young child and I believe it.

Hello Everyone, Does anyone have a kick-ass stretching routine for the hamstrings/calves? Right now I can barely touch the middle of my shins while standing and can only touch just below my knees while sitting on the ground. Forget trying to open the legs in the sitting position and touch the ground. This is making certain TKD kicks difficult. @Teirin led me to @Cheechoe 's hip stretching routine and it is helping.

I feel like all I got sometimes is showing up, and right now I can't even do that? but. I'm just going to keep trying. for serious. I need to bring this down an even further notch from my super not-a-lot-of-notches of last challenge. I'm really trying. Goal 1: figure out if I'm sabotaging my progress by eating more and drinking beers. This one sounds a little silly, but for real, I would like to increase my calories. End of last challenge I noticed my weight was up a tick. but I also wasn't exercising much. so, keep doing the more eating thing, but add in the more exercising thing. figure it out by the end of the challenge. Goal 2: do things and tell you about them. again, post here with things I am going to do, and have done. Goal 3: don't get frustrated because I'm having a hard time showing up, and don't not show up even more out of a sense of ridiculous sulkiness. this one, this is headspace crap. I'm feeling resentful and pissy about how I can't seem to get the most bare minimum of stuff done, and stay here as a valuable community member, and I KNOW it's mostly just because we're at end of winter and I have an itch for spring. the days are getting longer and I should be feeling better, I need to remember that my bare minimum of stuff is probably still more than the average american (but who wants to be average, anyway?!), and I just have to stick it out.

Taekwondo is a relatively new martial art from Korea. There are five main Korean dojang, and after the Japanese occupation of Korea, a council was formed to try to unify the schools in 1955. It was then that the term Taekwondo was coined. Tae = Hand or fist Kwon = Foot or kicking Do = Style or way. I have heard of three federations of Taekwondo. WTF - World Taekwondo Federation (Olympic Taekwondo) ITF - International Taekwondo Federation ATA - American Taekwondo Association Taekwondo has a strong emphasis on kicking. The theory behind this is that the legs are the largest of the limbs, has the greatest reach, and can deal the most damage. From my experiences, Taekwondo has a lot of similarities to Shotokan and Wado-Ryu karate. I took a few classes in Wado-Ryu and found that a lot of the forms/kata were the same. I would consider Taekwondo a pretty flashy martial art and because of this Taekwondo can be seen in a lot of fight choreography. Uhh, feel free to discuss, ask questions, if I can, I'll try to answer.

Hi there! New-ish to Nerd Fitness and making a proper go of it for 2016. I'm half Warrior, half monk class-wise as I am loving heavy lifting, but have done martial arts for years. Which brings me to the point of the post... I've done traditional Tae Kwon Do (to black belt level) but I'm looking for a new club, having moved away from my old one. I figured it was time to maybe switch up disciplines so- any recommendations? Aikido has intrigued me so far, as well as Jeet Kune Do, but I'm just wondering if anyone has had experience with switching up martial arts? Thanks!

I'm not sure on goals yet, so I will edit later. BUT FIRST. YOU GUYS DID YOU WATCH ONE PUNCH MAN? because it is kind of the best thing ever. so for my training, I'm kind of going to mimic Saitama. Kind of. I mean, this sort of describes my REGULAR fitness routine, right? Quick intro! I'm karinajean, 38, live in NY state, commute to NJ about an hour each way (so lots of time in the car). I joined the NFA in October 2013 and over the last 2 years I’ve gone from 206 to around 180. I practice tae kwon do several times a week, take weapons and boxing classes in addition, and have an overarching fitness goal of doing good form push- and pull-ups. I have a crazy mean (yet super sweet) cat and live with my husband full time and my stepdudes 1/2 time. I motorcycle, knit and spin, and am endlessly ignoring how messy the house is. I'm an ASSASSIN because I like doing all the things, and because I want to be able to do push-ups and pull-ups -- these seem like very efficient movements that will exercise my upper body and core, and if I can do those and run and do martial arts (NINJA) I will feel totally strong and fit and capable. The MERMAID comes in because I saw it in a dream when I was a very young child and I believe it. challenge back story I meant to get to a pull-up in 2015, but I didn’t try as hard as I should have. I’m coming out of a period of not being able to prioritize myself very well -- my husband was in school last semester and working full time, and he was taking 3 project classes and with his commute it was essentially a nightmare of him working on school all the time and me barely holding together everything else - wait, no. I did a damn fine job of holding everything together, but it was at the expense of my own things I wanted to do. He’s still taking classes this semester but he strongly suggests it will be different this time around and by gum, I’m going to hold him to it. At the end of last challenge I identified making my body a different shape as something I’d like - and that’s going to take a more purposeful approach to diet and exercise than I’ve been using over the last many challenges. But first, I need to get comfortable with my “doing things for me†routine. GOAL TIME PEACHES! GOAL 1: do something every single day! [except for one day a week. because I don't actually want to go bald] I’m not a nut, I mean, I’m not going to run so hard that my hair falls out or anything. but, I do need to do something just about every day. I’ve been watching the calories on my fitbit charge hr and the days that I just sit around? those are the days that I can’t eat what I want. constraints apply though! I do want that push-up/pull-up efficient movement at some point. so each week I must: run 2x do tkd as many times as I can get there practice push-ups 2x a week (counters, but try to work lower and lower) practice pull-ups 2x a week (assisted band, hangs, or lat pulls) bodyweight exercise 1x a week (age of pandora, most likely) my elaborate holiday mini-challenge list of exercises was good and in a pinch, this list applies too. GOAL 2: something about food! In as much as I have lost a bunch of weight and feel super good about my body size, it’s still a little mooshy around the middle and I would like to keep up the momentum of the last two years. So, still tracking. I’m keeping holiday goals of tracking every day and not slacking until the next day and trying to remember everything. also, no booze on “school nights.†this is sort of my first step towards some kind of cut next year. I’m also going to be paying attention to protein and how much I’m getting. I would like to get into the habit of getting upwards of 100 g but I’m going to use these 4 week challenges as stepping stones on the food thing, because I hate fiddling with food. GOAL 3: something about doing things for ME! I have been able to prioritize making time for exercise over the last two years, but for some reason I have a hard time prioritizing making time for me to do the other things that I love and want to be good at. this means things like knitting (and watching naruto) and getting my sewing space cleared out so I can make a few more skirts (I am totally out of skirts). I talk every year about planning a new recipe to cook with my husband on a regular basis and I rarely get to it. I need to apply the fitness tools that worked so well for me to the rest of my non-existent leisure time. SO. plan out each week when I’m going to *make time* to do a thing that I want to do. write it on my calendar with my workout plans, and do it. this is key: ASK MY HUSBAND to help do things that need doing for me, house, and family, even if it’s making a plan that we will tackle x nasty job on y day together. LIFE GOAL: figure out social media better for ME. I’m feeling torn by all my inputs, and when I think logically about what I gave up to exercise, it was internet time, really. I need to understand where my friends live on the internet (facebook/instagram/twitter/tumblr) and decide what kind of a presence *I* want to have on these places to share those friendships. If that means I need to instead make a point to have a non-internet relationship with people I need to make the time for that. All that said, I’m going to start slow on this one by taking a photo every day and posting it to my blog. because I like that darn thing, and I’ve been neglecting it for years, and I can do this for a month.

Greetings fellow Warriors, allow me to join your mighty challenge: 1. Diet – working on my phase 2 weight loss goal to reach 210 pounds, want to loss fat and preserve muscle. For this challenge, I want to lose 5 pounds and reach 230, current weight is 235. I will do so by following the Primal diet with 1 reasonable and planned cheat meal a week along with my other 2 fitness portions. 2. Fitness – a big part of my weight loss/fitness journey has been walking (not very Warrior like, but gotta get from battle to battle somehow and not a high enough level yet to afford a War Horse). For this challenge and likely everyone going forward, 30 minute walk 6 days a week. Got a weighted vest for Christmas so that has added to my intensity. 3. Fitness – the other part of my weight loss/fitness journey has been getting back to the stack of iron. I have been lifting pretty consistently since my respawn in July and in that time also discovered the joys of deadlifting (got a trap bar and I am in love!). BUT there is a bit of a bump in this part of the journey so this challenge item will have an asterisk (*). I am recovering from right shoulder bursitis that may be something more serious (had an MRI on New Year’s Eve, yeah fully used out of pocket deductible!) and some lingering soreness turned into brutal pain since the MRI. I get my results on Friday and find out my journey, a gentle sensible return to iron or a different recovery/rehab path. Tried some light lifting range of motion stuff this AM but I listened to my body and not ego and ended up just stretching. 4. Fitness/Level up quest – Earn my Black Belt in WTF Taekwondo. I am a candidate for Black Belt testing in February and still likely a year from attaining my full 1st Dan. For this challenge I need to step up my training and preparation for the next test. I will train 1 hour a day 6 days a week. I attend class 3-4 times a week but need to study/practice a couple additional hours at home as well. Even if the shoulder is a real problem, I can continue to study various other aspects besides physical for the test. While some of my goals may not exactly line up with the Warrior Guild, I am a warrior at heart, mindset and future body recomposition. My fitness and health are a work in progress since my respawn in July, one of my big goals is to get big, powerful, and strong. I have a head start on big (6’3†with a large frame, 60 pounds of old bulk/fat are gone, looking to shred the last 20/25 and turn them into stacks of muscle). I spent my last 2 challenges with the adventurers (a great bunch of people I will always cherish) but with the guild focus adjustment and some soul searching I have come to the Warrior Guild as a humble squire hoping to find a new family in swole. I am a lover of all things meat including BACON and am up to 2 sleeveless shirts in my work out wardrobe but have not seen them in the rotation since its too cold right now. I will update my grading by end of day and I plan to update my challenge daily. Thanks for reading and accepting me into your mighty guild!

Quick intro! I'm karinajean, 38, live in NY state, commute to NJ about an hour each way (so lots of time in the car). I practice tae kwon do several times a week, take weapons and boxing classes in addition, and am trying super hard to do really good form push- and pull-ups this year. I have a crazy mean (yet super sweet) cat and live with my husband full time and my stepdudes 1/2 time. I motorcycle, knit and spin, and am endlessly ignoring how messy the house is. I'm an assassin because I like doing all the things, and because I want to be able to do push-ups and pull-ups -- if I can do those and run and do martial arts I will feel totally strong and fit and capable. challenge back story A year and a challenge ago, I was a sad panda, and I decided I would get ready for hibernation. The next challenge I realized that I couldn't let the panda's win, and that I needed to celebrate my own awesomeness! This year, ironically? kind of horribly? I realized that I'm crazy over-committed, and my husband is crazy over-committed, and I'm doing too much and I need to figure out how to do it all and still have a rewarding relationship with my sweetheart and also pursue my goals and be a brilliant adulting fun person. So this challenge, I need to Be the HiberNOT! I don't need no stinkin' hibernation. [[HYPERnation, maybe. (and all the assassins say AMEN)]] ERGO HYBERNOTS. this challenge, I will HYBERNOT. I want to swing into winter, well, swinging. I want to fight off the doldrums, I want to make it through this super challenging semester that my husband is doing while doing my own things too, and not living in squalor. NOT A BIG DEAL, RIGHT? I got this, RIGHT? Goal 1: Swing in Swinging I want to do a pull-up in 2015. I've been saying that all year! 2015 is the year of the -UPs! And.... I haven't been very diligent about this. I made really good progress with the push-ups during the challenge-before-last. I need to work on those too though! my super slow push-ups could be faster and better. SURELY they could. This one! I will do pull-up practice and push-up practice 3x a week. write it down, check it off. DOOOO EEEET. Goal 2: Run away! Run away! Fight Fight Fight! I'm going to sign up for a turkey trot 10k on thanksgiving. so, practice for this. and this also means do my tkd exercises ala cross-training, because that's the way I roll. and AOP when I need cross-training, because that's just fun. write it down, check it off. DOOOO EEEEET. Goal 3: Keep working the food, bro. I just renewed my LoseIt premium subscription for year 3. this tool works for me, so I'm going to keep working it. And in addition! turns out that actually the alcohol during the week is probably not the best for me. Husband suggested for his own sake that we don't keep lots of beer in the house approaching the holidays, because those extra calories are just ridiculous. I agree! so: no weekday beers or wine, only occasional cocktails. because, well. I like a gin and tonic now and then. And my food evaluation from last challenge! the better breakfasts experiment was a big success, I need to continue that. This is all geared towards MAINTENANCE. I'm sure I'll get there sometime. I don't feel super restricted now, but I want to make sure I'm really understanding how I can tweak my regular diet for the most success, and still some wiggle room for cocktails and pizza and beer and cake. Life Goal. Well, I have a lot of life goals. I want my home to be peaceful and clean (maybe that doesn't mean neat, but not dirty).I want my partner to partner with me on the things we have to do for the family, with enough time for us each to follow our passions, and also be passionate together.I want to make things. I want to cook and knit and spin. I want to make sure I'm doing those things regularly.and reading! I want to read!being here on the forums! I heart my friends and I want to see you all here more frequently!So this challenge, I'm going to do my best, and make a point to remark on the things that are working, and the things that are not working, so that I can remind myself how much I am capable of and how well my husband and I work together to do things and to permit each other to do things separately. I know, this is so super boring. I do it every couple of challenges. for reals I think I do this all every couple of challenges.

things I learned last challenge: * I need to refresh on the bodyweight stuff. running is an easy exercise for me but I *know* that I can't overcardio myself, I need strength. my body is great at building muscles, I need to help it to succeed. * I am not very diligent at doing my -UPs practice, and if I really want to get to a pull-up in 2015 I need to crack down. * apparently I really can exercise 2-3x a week and eat at 1800 calories (ish) and I will lose weight. that's good news for the future! I'm glad that maintenance is higher than 1800 calories. * that thing where I kept doing tae kwon do and boxing and weapons routinely because I love them - that thing worked. I super love them still. ONCE AGAIN I have an awkward challenge. I'm going away for 2 weeks on the motorcycles! yay! but happily bodyweight exercises are my friends when I'm traveling! Goal 1: ROMANCING THE BODYWEIGHT Girl, you need to practice your -ups. You clearly didn't do them at all last challenge, but yet you insist they're important? Girl, just. Girl. 3x a week bodyweight workouts. not just the -UPs, but also the BUTTS. [[<--laughing hilariously at myself over here.]] Weeks 1 and 2 - while traveling - things like push-ups and squats and jumping jacks and handstand practice. don't sweat the full 20 min. workout concept, but do the activities. Weeks 3 to 6 - do a full bodyweight workout, either beginning bodyweight progressions or the NF Academy bodyweight routines, 3x a week. I know it's not popular opinion around here but running counts as bodyweight too - I know it's cardio, but you're propelling your body with just your body. that counts, totally! 2x a week running. (weeks 1 and 2 1x a week is ok.) The thing about the running and bodyweight is that if I am structured about it, I can fit in 2-3 miles and follow it with bodyweight. it doesn't have to be 5x a week exercise. make sure you're smart about this, girl. Goal 2: BE A REASONABLE EATER I'm going to be on vacation for 2 weeks, and I'm traveling to The Land of Cheese and Beer. I'm not going to let the silly fact that I hit my totally arbitrary calculated goal weight freak me out. I'm going to track all the food I eat, and I'm going to be smart about meals and snacks and protein so I don't get hangry, but I'm also going to enjoy The Land of Cheese and Beer. BUT WHEN I'M BACK. Stick with regular deficit programming but I am permitted to eat back exercise. Instead of managing on a weekly basis to hit goal, do this daily. Goal 3: PARTICIPATE! every challenge I see these mini-challenges and I'm super excited by them. every challenge I get pretty close to participating, but I never do consistently. when I do jump in those crazy overzealous assassins have managed to hit all the points already and I'm like: um, oh, hi. I shouldn't let that stop me, I should be overzealous too! I don't do stat points, but I will count as one of my goals participation in the mini challenges (and I really hope they work out with my vacation for the first 2 weeks!) LIFE GOAL. HAVE A BEAUTIFUL LIFE Honestly, I thought about taking a pass on this one. I can't even remember exactly how long the construction has gone on in my house but I'm pretty sure it's 10 weeks now. 6 weeks without a bathroom, a week of mess and quiet, and then 3 weeks (ROUGHLY? is there even any point to counting any more?) of total disarray and disruption in the kitchen and the dining room. the living room is unusable because all the things from the other rooms are in there. we have to move plastic sheeting when we want to use the stove. it's just RIDICULOUS. but in general, this is what I want: I want to read books and garden a little (just a little, mind you) and motorcycle and plan camping trips and cook delicious foods when my CSA starts. how about I just plain have a beautiful life, and tell you about it here? ************** I had secret big plans that weeks -2 and -1 would be good substitutes for weeks 1 and 2 in the challenge (when I'm traveling). BUT ACTUALLY I am too tired this week to do anything fancy, it turns out. fancy like exercise. I am actually at my wits end this week with the house. I am emotionally and mentally and physically exhausted. but week -1, though, that week I can start ramping up. I'm going to start tracking everything here, as per normal habits.

OUR HERO HAS VANQUISHED THE COLD HARSH WINTER. it's definitely spring. the garden needs gardening and the motorcycle is on the road. and with the changes in season comes a simultaneous CHANGE IN BUSINESS LEVEL. y'all, I'm so glad that the snow is gone but I am starting to feel very threatened by the spring. like, there is SO MUCH GARDENING TO DO. DOES OUR LAWNMOWER EVEN WORK? I am so busy! so I am setting up the most boring challenge ever and you will all just have to keep in mind: all the sparkles come from ME. I have no fancy pictures, I have no flashy gifs. I HAVE NO SHOWER RIGHT NOW IN MY HOUSE. all I have is my list of things that need doing. so what's that list? GOAL 1. KEEP BUSY. (as if there were ever any chance of me not being busy.) it's important to me to stay active and keep doing workouts. last challenge I figured out that I'm pretty comfortable doing 4 workouts a week, plus my tkd Saturday. So! I will keep it up. 5x a week activity. one of those days can be tkd. anything goes: running, bodyweight, stretching or yoga, weights. just. KEEP BUSY. a busy lifestyle is good for you. I really want to keep focusing on getting to my -UPs. I have been having a hard time this last challenge because my elbow got so super sore! (it's still sore! waaaah!) so I am going to dial this back to a more progression oriented approach. I'm going to start with the Start Bodyweight Training - I'll work on progressions #2 and 5, for pull-ups and push-ups. I want to do this 2x a week. maybe I should do it more, but for now 2x a week should give me plenty of time for my elbow to recover (HOPEFULLY). GOAL 2. EAT RIGHT. y'all know I'm a daily weigher and a calorie counter. I think I'm at the point in my weight loss journey where I need to stop eating back my exercise. Last challenge I did a good job of staying within budget INCLUDING eating back exercise. This time, no eating back. * with the exception! of my crazy dojo days, and I can eat back like, 3/4 of my calories from any exercise that is 600 calories or greater. I think that's fair. Honestly, I need so much more protein and fat when I work out a lot. I'm also hoping that spring will bring hiking, and that would be a 600+ calories day too. there is ONE WEEK that I will not worry about this goal -- this week. I will do my best, but my birthday is on wednesday and I'm traveling with friends to Portland OR on Thursday through Monday. I want to eat all the delicious food while I'm away. so, I'll do my best to be smart about my choices and portion sizes. GOAL 3. SELF-CARE = FOSTER SPARKLYNESS Clearly I am running on fumes. I don't have a shower. I have to go to the gym or the office early or my mother in laws every day that I want to get clean. I have work and family commitments. In order to keep myself sparkly and not feeling despondent I need to take care of myself. These are the self-care things I am going to do: * acupuncture - every 3 weeks. this is covered by flexible spending. it's good for me. it will likely really help my elbow, among other things. * chiropractic - at least every 1 1/2 weeks. maybe every week. again. good for me. I've got a sore hip and arm from driving a lot for work. this is my recovery. * massage - one of these during the challenge. again, covered by flexible spending, and good for me. my muscles are a disaster (especially hamstrings and calves) and this has been very helpful for me. * ride the motorcycle as much as possible to work - this is fun for me! I need to do it! I also need to figure out how to do this while also going to the gym. that's part of the challenge. * take a bath in my new bathroom as soon as it's done (I am hoping there's just 2 more weeks on the project!) - there has to be some reward! get some nice smelly bath bombs or something from lush so I can break the tub in properly. * hey read books. no requirement, but hey, read books. LIFE GOAL. KEEP CRAFTING. this went super well last time. I love making things! I need to keep it up. so, as I said last time: weekly crafting is required. I've got knitting and spinning in progress right now. I'll take pictures and share it with you. hopefully this will also lead to me finishing the closet. I made HUGE progress on the closet last time, and I would love to finish it up. so. I need to stay on track, but I also need some space to wrangle a little more peace and order into my life. I know this is a lot of stuff, but the routine of the exercising is important to me, and the eating, well, that's mostly dialed in right now. hopefully goal 3 will be easy and profitable. profitable in SPARKLES.

So I have been gone from actively participating in the Nerd Fitness Forums for about a year. Things got tricky with tennis elbow and life in general. Now things are on the mend and it is time to get back into the swing of things, and time to move from Adventurers to Monk. In late 2014 my wife, my son and I started doing taekwondo. So monk makes the most sense. Main Quest: Defeat the Villain Within: Loose weight and be Be healthy Following the trend of SevenFootGeek I will theme around Dungeons and Dragons, but more the 5th edition. In that version you have proficiencies that can be acquired and an overall proficiency bonus. By nature I would have to call myself a chubby human wizard, but it is time to be more of a monk. I seek the following Proficiencies: 1. Proficiency in Dexterity Saves:I need more flexibility and to be more anti-fragile. This should be obvious given my brief sciatic pain, tennis elbow and recent back pain. So it is time to do stretches, maintenance therapy, or yoga type exercising 3 times a week. 2. Cooking Proficiency:To get back to my setup when I lost a bunch of weight, eat 4-5 cups of vegetables a day. To do that I need to find new ways to cook veggies. Try a new vegetable focused recipe each week. 3. Proficiency in Unarmed combat: Go to Taekwondo class twice a week and practice at other times. 3a. Bonus goal, make it to green belt in the challenge. There is only one testing day in the challenge so it may or may not happen by the end. 4. Proficiency in Organization: We moved in October and things are still horrendously disorganized. Pick a new room/area each week and spend time to organize it. (Likely in this order; Pantry, Kitchen, Master bedroom, Kids playroom, Bonus room, Garage) Images from Morguefile.com