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Living in a post-apocalyptic world changes your perspective of what's really important in life and what isn't. Well, I'm sure it would. I play too many zombie games, shush. When it really comes down to the wire, we humans need but a few things to keep us going. Unfortunately, I don't much like the idea of just 'surviving' being the reason for staying alive - because what's the point in being alive if you can't enjoy it? At the same time, I don't want to waste the time I have still alive killing myself with bad habits , life choices, and company. Also, if the apocalypse ever does actually come, I want to survive it. Preferably with my friends and family around to enjoy a brand new world with. Being alive in the apocalypse - and in real life - generally combines the following things; Mastery over Food:Not starving to death in the apocalypse is a mixture of being able to cook up food off a whim and a few scraps, being able to provide food that will sustain you the longest, and knowing what to eat and what not to eat to keep yourself in peak physical condition. These conditions are also important for leading a healthy - albiet currently zombie-lacking - life. Learning new recipes, gardening, and creating a sustainable eating plan will all help this. Food Mastery Skills (Started)cooking gardening healthy eating Quests:\ one / two / three / four / five serves of vegetables a day\ one week / two weeks / one month without takeout Grow an edible garden\ strawberries / lemons / chilli / \ potatoes / tomatoes / lettuce / beans / spring onions / pumpkins / zucchini / cucumber /\ basil / mint / thyme / lavender / parsley / rosemary / \ sunflowers / Mastery over Shelter:Having somewhere to store all your things and somewhere to hole up in case things go south is always helpful when facing the brainless masses. And being able to spend lengthy amounts of time in said place without it driving you mentally insane is also a bonus. Any permanent living space would ideally also be able to function as a sole unit, providing basic amenities needed for a comfortable life. Making changes to make a home sustainable, and keeping said place clean and organised all help this. Shelter Mastery Skills (Start Early 2016)sustainable livingcompostingrenewable energycleaninghouse maintenanceputting things awayhome improvement Quests:Own a house with Mr. TeaAll food scraps go into compost which goes back into the edible garden. Grow enough vegetables to feed one / two / more peopleGrow a tea garden:\ tea bush / lemongrass / ginger / chamomile /Have chickens for eggs. Have sheep as lawnmowers & woolHave the house running off self sustaining energy. $0 energy bills, or close enough to it.Maintain a level of cleanliness without stress. No dishes left on counters or tables, things put away neatly but easily accessible. Have people around for dinner often. have an apocalypse survival bag / planbe able to climb a tree Mastery over Company:Having people you can rely on in the worst situations makes surviving that little bit less difficult, and a little bit less lonely. But if one was to ever find themselves alone, being able to keep oneself company without succumbing to damaging thoughts is a must. The act of helping people in need also contributes to a life well lived, and something I've so far left way out of my life. Making time to spend with family, friends, and even the dog, meditating, and committing acts of goodness all help with this. Company Mastery Skills (Started)friends family meditationcharity Quests:catch up with friends occasionally / once a week. catch up with extended family once / twice / three times a yearmeditate every day for \ 5 / 10 / 30 / 60+ minutes.do something nice for someone I don't knowgive someone something without expecting recompenseTrain the dog to do cool things:\ play dead / heel / backflip Mastery over Survival & Knowledge: Having all of the above us a good start, but if something ever goes wrong you need to know that you will be helpful and contribute to solving a crisis if needed. It doesn't pay to be the weak link in any survival team, especially if you are the only team member. Physically you need to have control over your body and have it able to perform certain tasks, and mentally you need to know various skills that could come in handy. Learning to move yourself, move things around you, know what things around you do, the best way to use things, and various skills that allow you to use the world around you to your advantage all help this. Survival Mastery Skills (Started) Moving Distance running Sprinting & intervals Parkour Yoga Lifting Derby Quests \ sprint 100m / 200m / 500m+ (comfortably) \ run 1km / 2km / 3km / 5km+ (comfortably) master simple parkour moves: \ Dive roll / jump obstacles / climb walls / master the handstand: \ 10secs \ 20secs \ 30secs / 1min / 2mins / 3mins + touch my forehead to my shins. (comfortably) master yoga poses such as crow/crane pose / headstand / splits / scorpion / others deadlift my own body weight / twice my bodyweight squat my own body weight / twice my bodyweight bench my own body weight / twice my bodyweight do pull ups. \ 1 / 5 / 10 / 20+ do chin ups. \ 1 / 5 / 10 / 20+ do push ups.\ 1 / 5 / 10 / 20+ handstand push ups. \ 1 / 5 / 10 / 20+ do pistol squats. \ 1 / 5 / 10 / 20+ plank for everrr. \ 1min / 2mins / 3mins / 4mins / 5mins+ Roller Derby: \ Pass Fresh Meat / Pass Min. Skills / the27in5 / 30in5 / play a bout / win a bout / Knowledge Mastery Skills (Start!) learn a new language / 2 languages / 3+ languages: \ Esperanto / French / Russian / Japanese Learn to sew your own clothes: \ socks / underwear / bras / hats / beanies / shirts / pants / tights / jumpers / jackets / corset / probably some other thingsCrochet an ugly christmas sweaterLearn to spin yarnMake something with homespun yarnLearn more about Albany Learn more about the world Write a book Write and record a Horror Radio Play Create, design, code & complete a computer game Sell something I've made Mastery over Travel: There is nothing bad about knowing about the world's many customs, food, people, beliefs. Knowing these things will help survival in unknown places, as well as make the places you know and live in all the more colourful. There are places I would like to go, so I'm starting a list! Travel To a beach with bioluminescent waves To the North / South Pole Deep under the sea To a buddhist temple To a rainforest To the snow To outer space! (one can dream, right?) Overseas Places Visited: Brunei / Cambodia / Thailand / Vietnam / Singapore Mastery of Life's Purpose I hope that by branching out my life into so many different aspects, that I can find the reason I'm keeping this body warm and moving. I also hope to find a program or something that I can work through to get myself in the right mindset and on the way. I have no idea how to even approach this. Not even kidding. Despite a mostly bubbly demeanor I can fall prey to some dark moods - I have a cycle of a few months of happiness and a few months of darkness - so I hope that by creating something to cling on to the happiness is increased and the darkness forced back and I can give myself a sense of, well, purpose. Life's Purpose Mastery (Ongoing) Quests:Find a job I like to fund my life\ media developer / waitress / short order cook / Fill life with meaningful pastimes and passions\ crochet / drawing / sewing / cooking & baking / yoga / meditation / writing / Roller Derby / To formulate all these things into the semblance of a useable routine, this is what I would like to be doing with each day that passes. I am very much of the "go where life takes you" mindset, but that doesn't mean I can't steer this wild ride. Having an idea of where I would like this to go will also help me in future challenges when I want to work on different things; I will know what time of day should work best for me. This will probably change 100 times as I work out what's best for my life at different times but that's fine. It's a working draft of a plan. That's more then I've ever had in my life ever. My Ideal Day:up with the sunrise.exercise or yoga. something physical. meditation.breakfast. something filling and satisfying. working on life passion / actual job if it's rostered.lunch time. something refreshing to get me through the rest of the day.working on whatever I didn't do in the morning.nap timemore working if I'm feeling inspired.dinner. games and relaxing. indulging myself. meditation. bed time;sleep a solid 7.5-8 hours. Epic Quest:HAVE SOMETHING WORTH LIVING FOR. Die Happy

The last challenge for 2015 has finished, and I need something to keep me on track somewhat, ready for the next year to come. My plans for 2016 include finding out just how far I can push my body and mind, trying new things and embarking on new life adventures. Things coming up for me include: A new Roller Derby Season Our first overseas holiday Buying a house and land together with Mr. Tea A traineeship in hospitality at work All of which will require me to be physically and mentally on my game as an adult. Because let's face it, I'm not a child any more (no matter now hard I try!) For the holiday season (December/January) I want to be focusing on re-habilitating my injured knee and improving my cardio skills ready to kick ass at derby come the new season, as well as getting better at looking after my house in preparation for when I actually own my own house that I don't really want to trash just because I dislike cleaning. I also need some accountability for all of this, because I'm super good at just, not doing it. Hence the battle log.

This is my 14th challenge here at Nerd Fitness. You would think I'd have it all together by now and not need to continue to plan my life around every 6 week period of the year. However I know damn well that the moment I stop gamifying my life by participating in these challenges will be the moment I drop everything and revert back to the fast-food loving, couch-surfing lump of flesh I was nearly two years ago. Quick recap for those of you who haven't seen me around - I am a 24 year old human of the female variety living on the southern coast of Western Australia (that's in Australia!) working in hospitality in a locally owned small cafe in the "city" of Albany. I am currently stumbling my way through minimum skills training for Roller Derby, which despite being pidgeon-holed my entire life as the unfit & uncoordinated child of my family, am loving to death! Therefore any of my fitness and nutrition decisions are currently revolving around whether or not it will benefit my skating career. It is giving me something to hold onto for motivation when I have none left and need to decide on things like what to eat or whether to stay up all night playing The Sims. SO! Without Further Ado, Challenge Number 14 shall proceed as follows; Teagarden is Subtle, Like a Brick. or will be, once she learns how to hit people on wheels! Main Goal Enjoy Every Day of 2015 Current Goals: Become combat-ready for roller derby Become good enough to be an awesome jammer (get faster, hit stronger) Keep feeling healthy and happy like I have been the last 3 months Prepare for the next period of my adult life (purchasing a house!) Quest #1 - Do Physio-prescribed exercises daily (6 / 14) Getting stronger entirely will have to wait until I can rehab my knee to be completely trustworthy and so I can skate again. Quest #2 - Keep Breathing (2 / 6) Do 1 HIIT session every week. My lungs need to get used to hard and fast movement in short bursts, because that's mostly what ends up happening while I'm skating. I would do more then one session but as I'm already skating 5 hours a week for derby training I can't afford to burn myself out. Bonus points for cycling daily to rehab my bung knee. Quest #3 - Feed the Demon (9.5 / 42) Eat 140g 100g of protein daily. no point working out if I am just burning any muscle away instead of building it up onto my skeleton. I am not the biggest or the fastest skater so I need to work harder to make my presence known, and to do this I need to eat the right stuff! like, chicken, and steak. And protein shakes. Quest #4 - Farm the Gold ($625 / $1,500) Drop $250 into my savings weekly. I have a budget written out which takes into account the rent / mortgage payments I don't currently pay (because we rent from my mother-in-law and I pay all the bills while Mr. Tea pays the rent; it works out even in terms of paying our living expenses) but $250 is almost what I will be paying once we buy our house and start having to pay it off. If I can put $250 into my savings every week until April (when the tenant moves out of the house we intend to buy) I should have around $30,000 I can use as a deposit to make our overall home-loan smaller. I've also slacked on this a bit lately and this last week especially has seen me haemorrhaging money as all my objects reach their used-by dates. Bonus Quest - Save money to update items EDIT 19/11/2015: Donate extra money to worthy causes that you would otherwise waste on inanimate objects $50 donated so far. Ranger's Gonna Ranger: Star Wars Mini Challenge! Week 1, General Movement: Cycle 30kms (30 / 30) - complete! Week 2, Stealth and Tracking: Sneak around the bird watching walk, sneak up on birds (0 / 1) failed due to sickness Week 3, Rangerly Hobbies: Find a Geocache! (3 / 1) complete Week 4, Rangerly Showcase: create food using leftovers, photograph Week 5, Week 6.

Placeholder. Teagarden's 13th Challenge Stubborn Like a Rock Current Quests Pass Fresh Meat Beat the 27/5 Motivation Spring & summer's arrival More Strength = Better Derby More Protein = More Strength Less Sugar = More Energy to Exercise (1) Nutrition Eat my bodyweight in Protein. Or, just about. 140g a day should do the trick (0.9g*my bodyweight in lbs) Cut 1tsp of sugar out of somewhere in my life every week. Use 1 day a week to prep food to make life easier. (2) Mind Meditate. Whenever, just do it. xD Post a gratitude / reflection weekly on the past week or whatever needs reflecting on. (3) Fitness Go to all mandatory derby training sessions (Mon, Wed) 1 HIIT session or 30min run p/week (Between derby sessions, skating sessions also count) 1 Body Weight routine p/week (Thurs/Fri) 1 Yoga session p/week (Thurs/Fri, can be done w BW session) I'm feeling very calm about this challenge; like I know I can achieve these things and I have reason to do all the things planned; I just need to prove to myself how consistent I can be.

I bombed out of last challenge because I took on way too much during a time I knew I was going to be super busy with work, so this time I'm cutting it waaay back down to just two quests. This should also help me focus on a new direction my life is about to take, in that I'm starting roller derby! wooo! I might add in another quest before the challenge starts but right now this is all I'm going to focus on. QUEST 1 - NUTRITION Pt. 1 - On work days, I will eat 3 big meals. Pt. 2 - On days off, track everything that goes in my body. I've put on weight, and I need to stop the upward trend. Weekends are tricky because my motivation for everything goes away so that's why I need to track what I eat; the knowledge that I have to log what I'm eating generally stops me eating quite so much bad food. Work days are often full on and I spend the whole day on my feet, so I just need to eat enough to stop myself falling over. A breakfast smoothie gets me through the morning, a good lunch will get me through the afternoon and dinner should hopefully fill me up enough to stop me fading away. QUEST 2 - DO THE DERBY (training) GO TO ALL TRAINING SESSIONS. This is non negotiable. I will have a team of people depending on me one day and I want to be in good shape to help us win all the points!... One day when we finally play a real bout. I think there is two sessions a week, on Monday and Wednesday. I must organise my life so that I have no reason to not attend. Also there's a minimum attendance for training so I have no choice in the matter really. xD - Plus, on WEEKS 1, 2 & 3 - do 30 minutes of yoga on an off day from exercise (and preferably work but whatever happens) - In WEEKS 4, 5 & 6 - do one Bodyweights session compromising of Push, Pull, Leg and Core movements, working on them calisthenic moves I've been wanting to be able to do. This is in addition to yoga and derby training. QUEST 3 - BE THE DERBY (knowledge) (new!) Spend 1hr a week reading about / watching videos about roller derby. This could be reading the rules, or watching bouts or tutorials about skating techniques or game strategy. I need to start understanding the game I'm eventually going to be playing! That is it. Simples. In case you were confused, "Rolling Stoney" is my derby name

Main Quest Enjoy Every day of 2015 Current Quests 1 Pistol Squat 5s handstand 1 pull up 1 handstand push up Motivations be strong look good be a show off be happy be content have fun survive winter It's winter here now, and I just want to curl up under my doona until Spring returns. Unfortunately that's very unproductive and counter-intuitive, especially if I want to have an epically strong and shapely bod for when I can finally wear something that shows some skin without freezing my bits off. The lack of sun also makes me quite S.A.D, and I know this, so I'm taking it easy on myself and doing the bare minimum that I can and still feel like I'm doing good. Also things I know I should be doing but just don't. I just need to keep repeating my ideal habits until they are automatic and I don't have to angst over having to workout or do the damn dishes. Some quests are repeats from the last few, some are new because I need a change. QUEST ONE: Keep doing the moving about thing Bodyweight routine 2 days a week. Two days break in between for optimal rest (routine allowing). I'm trying to build strength here, no weight loss or meticulous calorie counting or anything. Just getting stronger and better at controlling my body, and proving to myself how awesome I can be if I put some effort in. My work schedule is all over the shop so I just need to fit in 1 hour of exercise two days a week around my work days. Probably going to end up being a week day and a weekend day. My current routine I've been doing for the past two challenges, and I still like it. It focuses on pushing, pulling, leg stuff and core stuff for some sort of coverage of all my limbs. As soon as I hit a plateau / feel too comfortable with an exercise, I'll change it up for something harder. This is where I'm at currently. Push: Decline Push ups. Going to work on getting my legs higher and get to doing handstand push ups. Well, and a handstand. xD Pull: Negative Pull ups. Following 50pullups.com, or near enough to it. Working towards an actual pull up. Legs: Bulgarian Split Squats with a 6kg dumbbell in each hand (12kg total). Working towards a pistol squat with some weight in my outstretched hands for balance. I can get down, but not up again at the moment! Core: Hollow Body Holds. Taken from GMB's handstand tutorial. Working on being able to hold my legs and arms out straight for a whole minute, then I'm moving to wall handstand things (I think) QUEST TWO: Do the sleeping thing. Between 8 - 8.5 hours sleep every night, preferably between 10pm - 6am. I've slept between 10pm - 6am every night this week and I've definitely noticed a more steady energy level during the day, especially while I'm at work. I can't afford to be exhausted from lack of sleeping (waitressing is hard enough) so I'm making this a thing that I have to stick to. Just getting 8 hours sleep is acceptable on the weekend (in case I stay up late or want a sleep in on days I don't have to work / workout) Should also help me be less S.A.D. QUEST THREE: Spread the discipline QUEST FOUR: Be nice to yourself every day! TL;DR; QUEST 1: Bodyweight sessions 2x a week. QUEST 2: Sleep between 8 - 8.5 hours every night. QUEST 3: 20 minutes of doggy play time daily. QUEST 4: Do something selfish daily. Quests 3 & 4 cancelled due to life. xD

MAIN QUEST:Enjoy Every Day of 2015 CURRENT QUESTS:Get strong!do 1x5 pull upsdo 1x5 pistol squatsdo 1x10 push ups 7/05/2015do 3x10 push ups 10/05/2015do 5x10 push upsdo a freestanding handstand for 5 secondsKeep up daily maintenance of house cleaning---------------------------------------------------------------------- MID-CHALLENGE MINI HABIT MINI CHALLENGE! Goals: Continue mobility daily Continue 3-day Bodyweight routine + Basic tidy up of the house - alternate surface cleaning and doing the dishes, add in something else on days off from work. + 30 minutes of yoga on the weekend sometime - single session + Do 2 hours of drawing in the week. (20ish minutes daily) TEAGARDEN'S TENTH REBEL CHALLENGE! Quest 1 - Continue bodyweight & mobility routine (M/W/F) I've created a workout that's almost working for me. xD Progress for my inverted rows was moving very slowly compared to improvements in the hollow body holds and push ups, and I was having trouble progressing forward with pistol squats, because I was having trouble finding a better progression to move to. Doing more reps of weaker exercises is working, but it is slow, and I don't feel like I'm pushing as hard anymore. So this challenge I'm going for 5 sets of reps to failure of a harder exercise then what I've been doing. 3x10 Incline Push Ups --> 5x(toFailure) standard push ups. Tried this this morning, I could do 4 real push ups in a set!3x(toFailure) horizontal inverted rows --> 5x(toFailure) Horizontal rows. Going for less reps, better ROM.3x10 Chair Pistol Squats --> 5x(toFailure) Pole-Assisted Pistol Squats. I need to get my body into the proper position, and use my legs more for this variation. 1 minute Hollow body holds, knees bent --> 1 minute Hollow Body hold, legs (almost) straight, arms up Quest 2 - One 30 minute Yoga & Meditation session on the weekend This is part of my life enjoyment mission. I shouldn't need permission, or to remind myself, to take some time to unwind my body and mind after a crazy week at work. No set plans for what I'm going to do, just going to do what my body wants. Any division of the half hour of yoga / meditation is acceptable here. xD Quest 3 - Daily cleaning Cleaning my house was probably the most turmoil-laced part of my challenge last time. It's just about building the habit. It was mostly me overthinking the difficulty of the task I was meant to be doing... and then putting it off and making it even more overwhelming. I still did it all though! This challenge I'm delving deeper into tidying up the darker corners of the house, and trying to maintain a steady level of cleanliness day-to-day. Alternating between doing the dishes and doing a surface clean of the flat surfaces every day, bathroom and the floors get attention once a week. I've also taken out the ideas relevant to my house from this checklist and am going to complete them. Quest 4 - Write 100 words or draw in sketchbook for 20 minutes every dayWords Written: 3150Minutes Spent drawing: 1570 (26.2 hours) I've been enjoying both writing and drawing as mental exercises and should do more.

This is my first challenge as an Assassin, and I'm very excited. Also determined. I'm sick of flaking out halfway through challenges. I want to be that version of myself where I put my whole being into everything I do and rock the shit out of it. Or, at least feel like I tried to rock the shit out of it, even if I fail. Even if I'm aching from DOMS. Gonna be a bit of that this challenge. xD MAIN QUEST: Enjoy Every Day of 2015 CURRENT QUEST: Get strong! do 1x5 pull ups do 1x5 pistol squats do a freestanding handstand for 30 seconds look better naked wear more black Quest 1 - Prepared for anything. Do this after waking up every day. I struggle to wake up easily some mornings, but getting up and moving normally helps. It should also prepare my body before I workout on the days I do also. (from Steve’s TMNT workout) • Neck rolls: 5 each direction. • Shoulder shrugs: 5 each direction • Arm circles: 10 each direction • Wrist Circles: 10 each direction • Bends at the waist and touching the ground: 10 reps • Hip circles: 10 each direction • Forward leg swings: 10 each leg • Side leg swings: 10 each leg • frogger jumps x10 Quest 2 - Ninja Skills I read through Waldo’s guide to body weights, and think I’ve built a full-body workout that I can push myself in and still feel like I’m achieving something. If I can see myself adding reps/minutes to exercises, then I can’t complain that I never see any results. 3 days p/week. Proficiency is when sets are completed with no shaking [do mobility first!] Super Set 1: 45degree incline push ups to failure x3 (working up to 3x10) inverted rows to failure x3 (to 3x10) 30s rest. Super Set 2: chair pistol squats to failure x3 (working up to 3x10) hollow body holds (up to 1min, work on straightening out) 30s rest. Quest 3 - Cleaning Ninja Clean the house, following; http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-your-house-in-20-minutes-a-day-for-30-days-131142 Set a timer. Wear a ninja outfit. Make it fun! Just clean! The house is not looking too bad, but I'd like to make more of a habit of keeping it clean. I'm also pretty slack when it comes to things like cleaning the floors and shower and toilet, and I'm sure there are things I'm missing also. As I clean things, I become more aware of when it gets dirty and am more likely to clean it again when it starts to gross me out. Quest 4 - The Hit List Complete at least one task from this list daily (or anything else I consider productive not listed) Just because I need to fill my time with productive things, rather then staring at the internets all day. crafting leaving the house walking the dog meditating doing yoga gardening catching up with people I don’t live with not eating dairy (milk, cream, ice-cream, yoghurt - cheese is okay) not eating processed wheatyness (whole grains are fine) go to the actual gym Edit: Oh yeah, made myself a pretty spreadsheet to track my quests in. Edit pt. II: starting progress pics - BONUS!! TWO WEEK MINI HABIT MINI CHALLENGE I'm doing a mini challenge for the 2 week break between challenges! Starts here on this thread. basically to stop me falling off the wagon.

Wow, guys, this is my eighth challenge! This is a placeholder for when I actually have time to finish writing up this challenge. Ugh. This year is getting away from me already! Main Quest: Enjoy Every Day of 2015. Current Quest: Build the ultimate daily routine. One. Stretch 2x per day.Morning Sequence: MindBodyGreen Morning Yoga SequenceAfter work / Before Bed Sequence: MindBodyGreen 10 Minute Relaxation Sequence Need to start up exercising again, but I'm working a lot at the moment so I need to do something that won't totally wear me out. Working over the holiday season is doing that well enough. Also yoga is nice. Once school holidays are over and the other girl comes back from holidays I'll have a few days during the week to be able to spend some excess energy on actual exercise. Two. Food journal - every day.bonus for putting it into MFP.bonus bonus for no dairy in a day. Put on weight between christmas and new years, so I need to start logging what I'm eating again so I'm more aware of how much I eat. I also need to find something satiating that I can eat so I'm full but not overfull during work - otherwise I want to eat everything in sight. xD Also dairy (in the form of milk, cream, ice-cream, and most cheese) seems to be giving me issues. Whether it's always been that way and I never realised, or its a recent occurrence, who knows, but I just need to not from now on. xD Butter seems to not bother me (yay!) and small amounts of nice cheese (like feta) seem to be fine as well. So for my sanity butter and feta are exempt from the no dairy rule. Three. Clean one room of the house a week; thoroughly!bedroom / bathroom / kitchen & dining / lounge room / laundry & toilet / patio.bonus for putting it into Chore Wars Yeah. House is getting pretty wild and untamed, and I can do something about it. I just need to build some motivation. Four.gratitude diary - every day.Because I see other nerds do this and it's always so nice. And I know I should be grateful for my life, because it's pretty awesome. Lego Blocks:I have scrapped the gratitude daily because I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of it. I'm instead going to write a list daily of what I achieved that has gone towards crafting my epic life. Inspired by Steve's recent article on Lego and Minecraft. Bonuses:Go to Yoga Class, damnit!Have that catch up with a friend I’ve been meaning to.Grow a new vegetable (preferably a leafy green one but anything that grows)Swim at the beach. It’s summer for pete’s sake!Ask sister about soccer tryouts. Walk the dog. Cycle to work. Meditate. Be crafty. Draw / write / paint / sculpty.No computer or XBox before work / 9am. I'll suss out some sort of scoring system in a bit. xD

Last challenge was a complete failure, so I need to take some time off from Epic Questing to get my head back in the game. My mental fortitude took an ass kicking last challenge and without working on my Wisdom stat I don’t feel like I’ll be able to keep levelling up effectively. I just want to have fun with this one and stop stressing so much! I also miss the druids and now that spring is here I want to be mindful enough of the outside world to truly enjoy it. MAIN QUEST: DIE HAPPY Simples. Current quest: Cheer the f*** up. Step 1 - One long meditation session a week. +1000 points I get stressed trying to remember to do so many things a day, that I figure I'll just give myself one session to remember to do and be done with it. I should try to make it over 20 minutes but to be honest, as long as I'm meditating I'm winning. Step 2 - One long yoga session a week. +1000 points Same thing as with the meditation. I get so stressed and guilty about not doing everything I should that I freeze and do nothing. Should be at least half an hour of yoga, but any yoga is pretty much a win right now. Step 3 - Keep a log of how I feel day-to-day. +100 points p/day I'm getting better at noting what changes my levels of happiness and affects me greatly, but if I can actually see it and write it down I can then work out what I need to do to avoid dramatic mood swings and dips in motivation. Some things I could log; -work hours -weather (if it affected actions/mood of the day) -positives / negatives about the day -sleep quality (time awake, / sleeping, feel upon waking) -foods, if they had an effect on my body. -different moods throughout day, what changed them. !! Bonus Missions !! These are things I should do but don't always feel like doing and I'm not going to guilt myself into doing them. I want to create triggers for good decisions based on how I'm feeling or what I'm not doing. - Extra meditation or yoga sessions during the week. +20 points per session - Use bodyweight exercises to release anger. +100 points - Be creative if I'm sitting around fidgeting. +50 points - Attempt to talk to someone in my social circle about how I’m feeling / what I’m thinking. +200 points - Get out of the house. +50 points - Clean something, anything if feeling bored. +100 points - Say something nice to myself. +10 points per nice thing - Add a serve of steamed vegetables to any meal. +20 points per serve of vegetables

You find a book, next to another book, on a shelf. You open the first book. It chronicles the journey of a creature coming from nothing, finding her way in this big world. It ends in rather an anti-climax, with the creature realising that without a specific, measurable way of knowing she was making progress, and no reason for her to want to be making progress, all she did was flit from one goal to the other mindlessly. You open the second book. The front page says, "The following pages are the continuation of the chronicles of just one of the billions of sentient creatures inhabiting this lump of space junk in a coincidentally perfect spot in the universe." Just kidding. No it doesn't. Scrawled in writing that looks like it was done by a creature lacking opposable thumbs is, "Teagarden. Book 2." The pages are blank. Last challenge, my fourth, I learnt the hard way that without a plan, there was no motivation for me to want to succeed. Whilst working through some issues I have decided to start from scratch, with a plan, and hopefully continue on the path to a fulfilling life. What do I want to do to lead a fulfilling life? Well, that's what the plan is for. I literally have no idea what it is I want to be doing for the rest of my life, but I know that just piss-farting around is going to get me nowhere. I've spent the better part of this week working on itemising my Epic Quest and creating steps I think will help me reach some goals, the achieving of which should help to boost my confidence and motivation through giving me a completionist's buzz. (Get all the trophies!) It is conveniently designed around surviving the apocalypse, because the real world just isn't life-or-death enough for me apparently. Also zombies. You're probably reading this going, Wait, who the hell are you? Well, I was wondering that too, so I rambled out a new introduction. For myself, or for you? I'm not 100% sure. Next 6 week challenge I'm going to start taking some (baby) steps towards some of the things. This new battle log will be for my daily chronicles as I attempt to work on some Apocalypse Survival Skills. I mean, real life skills. Oh shush.

------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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!

My whole childhood/teen years I was told many things, such as the following (with the best of intentions); "Oh, you're a great drawer, very artistic!" "You should be a designer!" "You're a good student, you could do [insert higher education purpose here]" "You're not even trying!" "You can do anything!" Which was great. Except inherent talent didn't do shit when I didn't have the push to improve, to excel, to better myself. People assumed I was doing well and left me to it. Well, instead of excelling, getting great at everything, I slacked. Got lazy. I did things to benefit myself in the moment instead of thinking ahead. I was a child, you don't think of your future when you're still in school. Ain't nobody got time for that! I learnt things for long enough to pass the test on them, then promptly forgot them - and that's disregarding the fact that sitting in a class or reading wikipedia is not my way of learning at all. Once I hit high school, and hormones, I slowly mentally slipped into the spiral of "oh well, I can't do anything well enough to make my mark on the world. I'm 15, I should know what I want to do with the rest of my life by now; like every other person in my age group planning the rest of their schooling lives and possibly the rest of their whole life. Having no plan, I gave up. I never really thought ahead to the rest of my life because for a long while I never thought I would actually make it to adulthood. I'm 22 now. There's no way I thought I was going to make it this far. I doubted every move I took, and was constantly strangled by self hatred, doubt, loathing, and the wish to be anyone else. As well as a healthy dose of, "Oh well, this is it, I'll start getting used to it now." Screw you subconscious. Looking back now I was probably suffering some variation of Depression or Anxiety but people just thought I was different; and instead of being offended I took that and wove it into my self-image. Tried to control the darkness. (We all know how that ended, hey Gollum?) (Shut up, Lord of The Rings is on TV.) Anyway, I did make it through school and did try to use some of my natural talent to shape my life, even if I had no idea of where I was actually going. Picking a vocation on a whim is great and all, but going straight from high school to trade school pretty much just extended high school for me, although the skills did sink in a bit more because I was taught as I participated; learning web design while typing the code myself; learning to drive the Adobe suite while I clicked through procedures as the teacher did. Again I excelled and got the "You don't even have to try" treatment, so again I stopped trying. relied too much on my basic instinct. Having no clear picture of where I wanted these skills to take me left me just doing things because they were in the course and had to be completed; and I was spending too much of my parent's (and later my own) money on a class so I had to complete it. Basically, the idea of making a living drawing silly pictures and making web apps was a trendy idea at the time and I was going with the flow, thinking it would be a future-proof way of utilising my natural creative instincts. {insert childish raspberry noise here.} Fast forward a few years after a failed attempt at freelancing, attempting to juggle freelancing with casual waitress work, then having hospitality slowly creep into my life like an insidious parasite until it was all consuming, fighting back and slowly taking back some of my life, mixed with news of people my age going onto success and great things; here I am, typing this, feeling a tad empty and achivement-less. I've just fought back from my latest dark period, remembering that I am happy with who I am and I just need to learn how to improve; and it doesn't matter how long it takes me. I am a continuing member of The Rebellion, and while I had some successes in my last few challenges learning the basics of diet and exercise, I also lacked a clear mission to aim for - an ongoing problem of mine it seems. Now after my latest emotional crash I’ve come back to re-direct my life before it sails merrily down Shit Creek. I don’t want to count calories, I don’t want to lift mountains. I want to be comfortable just being. I have a battle log, an epic quest; I can comfortably say I have a plan. My name is Tegan. (But you can call me Teagarden. Or Tea, if you’re the nicknaming kind). I love fantasy. Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, zombies, magical creatures. I love craft. Crochet, sculpting, blogging. Many other things. I love gaming. PS3s and any game tolerant enough to support the Macintosh computer. I love coffee. And Tea. I love food. I find life both exciting and depressing. I struggle to find a work/life, and happy/serious balance. I will have the skills needed to take on any challenge life throws at me. I will be physically fit enough to enjoy life without pause. I will use my skills for good; helping people, and spending time doing things I love to do. I will have a way to sustain my life doing a job that I enjoy going to. I will get out of bed each and every day with a purpose. I will fail. But I will get back up. Again, and again. I will die happy.

YOUR QUEST, Should you choose to accept it; No Jiggly Stomach. Also known as Teagarden's Quest for Self Acceptance. MISSIONS that you should complete to achieve your objective; (1) Thou Shalt eat no processed food that comes in crinkly bags (or other wrappings) (2) Thou Shalt commence bodyweight training at least once a week, twice if the opportunity presents itself. (3) Thou Shalt continue yoga classes (with a vengeance) AT LEAST once a week, but 3 times if the opportunities present themselves. (4) Thou Shalt follow the teachings of Steve of Nerd Fitness as if you are a hardcore religious type and worship the internets he writes on. Complete your quest by: 6/1/2014 (gives me 6 weeks, good practice for later challenges, no?) Adventure Journal, Day One. 26/11/13, 8:56am. Location: The southern coast of Western Australia. Starting Stats: Rebel's Name: Teagarden Gender: (F) Height: 167cm / 5ft 5in Weight: 68kgs / 150lbs Race: pudgy fleshling Human. Profession: none Downfall: Late nights, sleep ins and lots coffee. Level: 1 ----------------------------------------- Teagarden vs the Beginner's Bodyweight Circuit ----------------------------------------- Almost Successfully completed 3 rounds of the beginner bodyweight training! 20 squats 8 Knee Pushups 20 lunges 10 dumbell rows with 6kg weights. 20 second plank, and 30 jumping jacks. x3 times. ACHEIVEMENT EARNED: complete your first workout: 1/1 Reward items: +1 Strawberry Blueberry smoothie with almond milk. +1 body full of sore muscles tomorrow morning. Feel the burn! Breakfast was Espresso coffee and banana. Lunch was sweet potato tart with big side salad. Dinner was homemade chicken burgers; except I cut the burger in half and filled it with salad instead of using that stack of white bread over there! Woo! Tomorrow should be a quiet day on the battlefront, just a day shift at work then home for dinner. I will probably be suffering from today's workout so tomorrow I'll let them rest.

Last challenge I found myself a little bit vague and wandering, lacking a sense of purpose. Without set restrictions on what I could and couldn't eat I found myself indulging more and eating more stuff I knew I shouldn't be. I still made improvements physically - running for longer and doing more push ups - but I know I can do so much better. So this challenge I'm going to be focussing on improving my physical form more then any higher consciousness type challenges typically found over at the Druids. Shape shifting as a druid requires a certain knowledge about one's true form… And mine has gotten a bit hazy and well, pudgy. If I am to be the best druid I can be I need to know what my body is capable of, push those limits as far as they can go, and make those new limits my norm. Hence me joining the ranks of the Rangers this time to really buckle down and put some serious hours in. I don't want to be "sort of" or "kinda" fit, I want a clearly defined body shape with clearly defined muscles, as well as knowing my body's abilities. I want to put a number on my deadlifts and squats, and I want to have a total of exactly how many push ups I can do, and pull-ups (eventually) instead of this "I can lift some weight sometimes!". No more. No more of this vagary flaky "I might do this but I might not" shenanigans, I'm Keeping It Simple (Stupid!) This time around. Them's The Rules! Eat. Intermittently. Between 12pm - 9pm 7 days a week. (42 days) STA +4 I prefer to have a coffee for breakfast and eat bigger at lunch and dinner, so I'm going to experiment with this this challenge. I was going to try primal again but apart from making me fat if I have too much, my body doesn't have a problem with bread and dairy, so I will allow them but limit my intake. I've worked my way off milk anyway, but bread is something I haven't been able to give up yet. So instead of that I'm going to try fasting. I'll also count my calories for at least the first two weeks and see exactly what I'm eating and what I need to change. I've been too vague on this too. TDEE: 2000cal. I'll be aiming for around 1800cal every day so hopefully slowly I shed the little bit of excess fat around my stomach, and go from there. Motivation: I want to stay around 15-17% BF, eating enough protein and fat to help my body recover and build muscle and keep me healthy. Sleep. (42 nights) CON +4 7.5hours a night. Every night. No exceptions. Getting to bed by 11 should give me more then enough hours sleep and I might even coax myself into get up earlier. If this isn't long enough after two weeks I'll up it to 9 hours. Motivation: I want to feel awake when I get out of bed. I want my morning coffee to be optional, not a necessity. I want to be able to spring out of bed and greet the day. Run. 3 days a week. (18 days) DEX +4 Finish my C25K program, move onto a 10k program as that is staggered nicely and I feel like I'm accomplishing something. Otherwise if it's raining and cold outside 2 HIIT workouts spaced throughout the day. Motivation: Rule #1 is cardio. Lift. 2 days a week. (12 days) STR +2, STA +1 Deadlifts and squats etc, bodyweight workouts, the Rebel Outcast Workout etc. Keeping up my motivation for actually doing hardcore exercise is hard for me, hence the extra stamina point awarded for completing this. Motivation: I want to be able to deadlift and squat my own body weight. I want to be able to do 20 push ups. And I want to do a chin up. At least one. I'll will be keeping track daily through my Battle Log (Starting from around page 19) and update here weekly with my scores for each section. Also for a change I made myself a pretty spreadsheet to colour in and type numbers into which you are welcome to look at. And I've also made an MFP account to log food. All the accountability! Starting Stats: I'm not expecting these to change a whole lot, but out of interest I'd like to see if anything changes, and where on my body it does. Weight: 64kgs Measurements (in cm) Neck: 32 Chest: 72 Waist: 69 Hips: 85 Thigh (both): 51 Upper arm (both): 27 BF %: 17.2 Deadlift: 20kgs Squat: 11kgs Push ups: 1x7 Pull ups: 0

My entire life I've never been known as the light sleeper, but for the last two weeks I've been seriously struggling with getting and staying asleep. I haven't made any drastic changes to my routine - not drastic to me anyway - and don't have anything worth stressing and worrying about that should be keeping me up, and I'm running out of patience. Also dishes. They don't get done when I'm walking around like a zombie. Forgive me for ranting and/or not explaining. It's 4:48am. Quick background: 22y/o, female. Unemployed for 2 months. No money worries as of yet. No lack-of-job anxiety - consciously. Minor background of depression and anxiety, thought it had abated with diet and exercise. Changes to routine in last month; New birth control. Set bedtime of 11pm, still wasn't waking up alert, changed to 10:30pm. Having cup of green tea after dinner before bed. Little to no meditation & yoga Changes to routine in last two weeks; Changed to decaf tea. Cut back on caffeine consumption to 1-2 shots daily before 1pm. It got damned cold in the evening. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I'm a barista, so I've thrived on caffeine these past 3 years. I've never had this problem with it before. I also have no reason (insofar as I can see) to be stressing - also I wake up having been grinding my teeth - that should be keeping me up, but if I can get to sleep - usually taking up to an hour, sometimes more, then I do find myself awake again anywhere from 1-3 hours, unable to fall asleep again. Tonight I lay in bed for 2.5 hours before giving in and getting up. SO, my question to you guys is this. What do I do? Cut back on all stimulants and enforce waking and sleeping times more? Go back to my usual routine of 4 cups of coffee, sleep when I feel like it and screw the consequences? Or give up on sleep altogether and survive entirely off caffeine? Or is it a mental thing? Should I be going to see someone about this or is the idea that it's a mental thing all in my head? I'm just freaking tired.

Feral druids are like the swiss army knife of the druid population. They will fight when needed, heal when needed, or hinder enemies to help friends escape danger. They have a distaste for closed in places or places with a high concentration of other humans, and prefer to spend days wandering the wilderness changing shape and using their multitude of skills and one-ness with nature to survive off the grid. Now that I've become a happy, healthy druid, it's time for me to start improving and training for real life situations. My short term goal was basically to get my body to a point where I could use it and I was happy with how it looked; and having completed my first challenge I feel like I'm in a place where I could go any which way I please. I never had a specific place where I wanted to be fitness wise, just "be as fit as I can possibly be." And as long as I continue completing workouts and making it harder for myself I know that's going to happen and I don't mind how long it takes. Long term goals start to get a little hazy because I rarely plan things in the future, but I know that my Love and I would like to one day be living completely self-sufficiently together somewhere pleasant. Also, in case of nuclear fallout or zombipocalypse, I have to be prepared for anything. I don't want to be violent, but I will shift into feral mode to protect what I must. This challenge therefore I will be focussing less on strength building and weight loss and more on building functional skills and spiritual development. And defeating some bosses along the way. Main Quest: Do all the forms! Speed Forme (+3STA +2DEX) Cycle or run 3x a week. A: 3 a week B: 2 a week C: 1 a week F: 0 a week Success markers; New PB for cycling distance (currently 10.6kms) New PB for running distance (currently approx. 5kms) I've come to like cycling, despite having had bad experiences with it as a youngling. So I intend to utilise it for health, and for having to buy fuel less often. I'm sure Mother Nature will be glad. Also despite messing up my ankles last time, I intend to try running again because I feel like my body should be able to carry me a distance without wanting to quit. Also, fast zombies. *shudder.* Obviously if I complete my 3 sessions a week that will be a success, but I want to be able to measure that somehow hence hopefully cracking some personal records to show myself how awesome I am becoming. Zen Forme (+5WIS) Meditate or yoga 3hrs a week. A: 3hrs a week B: 2hrs a week C: 1hr a week D: <1hr a week F: 0mins a week Success markers; Touch forehead to shins Do the splits Have a revelation about myself or others Stay calm when once I would have lost it. This fell by the wayside a bit last challenge, I was more focussed on body fat loss and strength building, but that's never been a primary goal of mine so I intend to bring meditation and yoga back into my life more. Shapeshifting only works when you're totally calm in the face of chaos and I intend to be that calm. Side Quests: Living off the land. (+2CON) Garden 1hr a week A: 1hr a week B: 40mins a week C: 20mins a week D: <20mins a week F: 0mins a week Success Markers; Grow something. Duh. This is another of those "One day" things I keep meaning to get around to and never do. My garden's gotten into a terrible state and hopefully if I just spend 10 minutes a day on it I can get it looking respectable. Obviously rather then just flowers I would ideally be growing vegetables and edible plants, but for now let's just chase the weeds out. I'm also notoriously bad a tending plants for a period of time so hopefully I can keep what I'm growing alive long enough for something to grow that I can cook. ------------------------------------------------------------- Uh oh, a BOSS BATTLE has appeared! Real Life. (+3CHA) Call doctor to make appt for check up. update 10/3: Called this morning for appt next week. update17/3: Actually went. Booyeah. I am a healthy druid. Get tested for gluten and dairy intolerance. update 17/3: Went to said appt and got a blood test done. Buy fitness shoes. update 9/3: bought comfortable shoes that slip over my feet and they're awesome. Apply for my passport. Try a Tai Chi class. update 24/2: Went to my first one today. Unsure whether I'll keep going right now or start with the beginner's in July. Make a dentist appt. update 10/3: called this morning for appt in two weeks time. Quit my job. update 21/2: Stated my intention to resign to my manager. One step at a time. update: 13/3: Last day of work today. Booyeah! Some of these I'm just putting off because I'm anxious about trying new things; other things are big ones I've been avoiding because I'm scared. But no more dicking around, I wanna get these stupid things done and out of my life. I only need to accomplish one a week to get them all done, and hopefully by the time week 6 comes around I'll have built enough momentum up to chuck my job in without blinking, but we'll see. ------------------------------------------------------------- Miscellaneous other things to remember. Diet Rules. (not enforced, but necessary) No gluten. No processed foods. Minimal dairy. Minimal added & refined sugar. Try to source food from local outlets instead of Woolworths. I experimented with Paleo last challenge and it worked well, but now I know what kind of foods upset my body and what doesn't so I won't be "Paleo" as such, just not eating crap that hates my guts. (teehee.) I like penut butter and snow peas, What can I say? Anyway, I also feel like I'm missing out on real wonderful produce that my part of the world creates, so I intend to try and do my shopping elsewhere, hopefully eventually compiling a master list of where I can buy everything that I need. And I think that's everything for now. I might fine tune this more before next week but I'm pretty keen to get started! Except for those boss battles, those I'm fearing a little.

This will be my first official challenge at Nerd Fitness; I've been waiting for this since I signed up 6 weeks ago! I could have jumped straight into the previous challenge but at the time my motivation was running on fumes so I thought I'd ease into it before tackling anything scary like a real challenge. Gotta complete the tutorial before playing the game! The challenge doesn't start for another couple of days which will give me time to nut out the details, but I'm not too worried about stat points at this point because hell, I'm level 0. Just getting to level 1 will be a big deal! But I want to be able to give myself an actual mark because I think it will help me find out what I need to work on, and then I get to win points! (do the thing! win the points!) And I will know what to work on for next time. "But wait, what do you mean by 'attempt at total control?'" Well, I'm glad you asked. While I have been getting my health back in order these last few weeks, my brain has been functioning well enough to realise that I could be doing so much better in other parts of my life then I am and I've known about these issues for a while, but have lacked any sort of drive to do anything about it. I have no intention of throwing myself into the deep end, (this would end up in me flailing about and probably drowning in failure) but I need to start somewhere, and at least if I'm winning points for doing things then I might just! I also want to keep my general fitness improving, so my main quest is still diet-related, but I find it harder to keep my diet on track then delegate time for workouts. (I'm casually employed have time slots around everything I do where I can work out, but I hate cleaning my kitchen so cooking gets left behind when I run out of forks!) SO, without further ado, I give to you, nerds and nerdettes, my sparkly new challenge to start off this year the right way. Get as close to 15% body fat by attempting to eat totally Paleo. (6pts available) Starting Body Fat: 21% Having a number to work down to will be good motivation for me to stick with eating properly. My motivation for joining originally was a lack of happiness in the way I looked, but since I've been following the Rebel Fitness Guide I've reached a point I'm quite pleased with, so I had to think of something else to keep me going. There are still parts of my figure that will benefit greatly from this, and I want to see my abs. I will get a point for every percentage point dropped at the end of the challenge. So, my plan for doing this is; Eat Paleo 3 meals a day 7 days a week (126pts availble) Doesn't get much simpler then that! Cooking has never been a problem for me, I quite enjoy it, but meals need to be easy and quick and not involve a hundred different bowls to create. And paleo, in this instance. Also, I have struggled fitting in breakfast so I'm just going to have to start getting up earlier if it becomes a problem. I score a point every time I eat a paleo breakfast, lunch or dinner. Paleo snacks are worth no points, but I shall deduct a point every time I have a non-paleo snack! I'll try to keep a running tally during the challenge. Find and cook at least one new paleo recipe a week. (6pts available) Pretty self-explanatory; I'm used to cooking with a lot of pastry and cream and flour, and I need to be more creative. At least this way I can explore different things and find new things that myself and my Love will eat. He's coming around slowly but he still likes bread and pie and ice cream. I mean, so do I but my hips don't. One point every time I find and cook a new recipe, but only one point can be earned a week. I might even link and photo in my efforts if I'm feeling like sharing that day! LIFE QUEST: Invite more nature and art into my life. My last year was full of overworking, underachievement and a lot of "I'll do that one day" And I'm sick of hearing it from myself and everyone I know. Ultimately I would like to be doing a job that I love that always changes and I can use my natural flair for creativity and fun to do something awesome, as well as having an adventurous and fulfilling out-of-work life, but ever since finishing my diploma in media I have worked in the same cafe and played the same games and listened to the same music, and used the same excuses to not venture outdoors. Short term, I want to work less, create more, and enjoy the beautiful part of the world that I live in. Putting it on here makes it real and official, and I get to win more points!! A. One detailed artistic work a week, any medium (6pts available) Simple. I have a variety of hobbies, and never do any of them. I'll just pick one each week and go for it! I have to get at least 50% of the way through whatever I choose to do though, no planning things and not following through. B. Go somewhere I haven't been before (6pts available) Again, easy, but something I rarely do. I might even combine the two and go somewhere and work on something. MOTIVASHUNZ Lately I have ben feeling very stifled by real life; work and bad habits bind me into a destructive cycle of not eating properly or not moving around enough and they are the two problems I really need to fix, but I also need to be able to say "no more." I don't need to take every single shift that work throws at me, I could be doing fun things. And I don't get out enough. I also want to have things to talk about when I actually catch up with other humans instead of "yeah, we sat at home and watched tv..." I will keep a daily log of my eating and creative habits, and probably how much exercise I do too (I'm followng the rebel fitness guide and intend to jump from Rookie to Recruit at some point during this challenge.) because that's what I've been doing already. Total points available: 150. (hey! That worked out nicely!) A: 95% B: 80% C: 65% D: 50% F: 35% Phew! That was a lot of info at once, sorry! Anyway, this doesn't start until the 6th, so until then I'll continue updating my Battle Log until then.

My main quest when I started this mission was to drop from 21% body fat to 15% body fat... Well I measured myself this morning and I SMASHED that goal!! 13.9% body fat. Just to illustrate, here is what I looked like on the first day I joined the Rebellion; (I've no idea what my BF% was, and I'm not putting it all back on just to check!) I hated myself pretty much. I wanted to change everything about my body; be someone else. I was the "skinny-fat" type of unfit and despite family and friends telling me I looked fine I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. Yet I was too lazy to get up off my arse and do something about it. Then I stumbled on NF and dragged myself up by the scruff of my neck. I'd just missed the challenge start so I started learning the ropes of the forums and blundering my way through my first workouts; hurt my ankles trying to go for a run, learnt to eat properly, and realized that how my body was feeling, wasn't right. I started to enjoy lifting weights and the burn and the racing heart that comes with exercise, and the feeling of being full and not bloated and sick when I ate a proper meal and cut back on dairy, gluten and grains. Start of the current 6-week challenge (I'd been preparing!) And I looked like this; (21% BF) Which was good, but I wanted to see my ab muscles. I also knew I had a long way to go lifting wise, and I wanted to gain a level here on the forums! So I gave myself a number to work for (15% down down from 21% BF) And went for it. I had a plan, I had a character, I had a quest. Something about it being like real-life WOW, and having to admit my faults when I logged on helped spur me on to continue doing good for myself. Then one week I gained weight (it ended up being hormonal mischief running amok through my body) and decided I should finally get a pair of calipers if I was going to keep seeing any results that wouldn't shut me down on the spot. Also the scales were starting to give me a shifty look. Day one of Week 5 and Weigh in Day has led to this! (now 14% BF!) Still no abs. Turns out THATS where all my fat has been sitting this whole time. But there is shape under that fat (that isn't "round") , my arms aren't pudgy and jiggly, and none of my clothes fit! (that's a good thing.) I feel like I have a body that I can go out and DO STUFF with instead of declining things like playing tennis or going out because I'm worried I'll look stupid or hurt myself. Now I look for any excuse to get into my bathers or take my shirt off or show off my arms and legs because I'm so pleased with how all the effort I've put in has paid off! I also keep getting sunburnt because I wear a lot less clothing then I used to and forget to put sunscreen on my lilly white skin. Whoops! If I wasn't standing in my own bedroom I would have a hard time believing that body is mine!

After three months of yoga, today I did a backbend for the first time ever!! You know, the one where you stand up on your hands and feet with your hips in the air? YEAH! I haven't been able to do that since I was like, 8! I also bent all the way forwards and got my forehead to touch my shins! (With only a little adjustment by my teacher) (shut up, it counts!) I had to stop myself from yelling in happiness in the middle of class, probably would have messed up some people's zen. But that's why we have the woot room! YAAY!