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Shut down a bit after I dropped out in December. Didn't come back in January because I've been pretty chronically tired, and am finally off to the doctor next week to see if there's anything behind that beyond the usual combination of stress and work (I have my suspicions). Still tired, of course, but I miss you guys, so I am back! I have a great big project on the horizon that got approved last night! I am very excited and terrified about it. I am not expecting to get much rest in the next... 10 weeks unless I practice some dedicated self-management, so this challenge's goals are focused around that. (You'll get to hear about what it actually is after the official announcement gets made.) Goal 1: To make sure that my food intake optimises my actually-experienced energy levels. NHS advice for this is to have a few smaller meals instead of a couple of large ones, and like most health advice, "stop being so fat" is on there too, so the calorie target is for gradual weight loss. This would look roughly like: 08:00: 2 boiled eggs, bit of fruit, cup of tea (~200kcal) 11:00: Nuts (~200kcal) (11:00:03: Stop giggling at the word “nuts”.) 12:30: Whatever takes your fancy (~300kcal) 15:00: Something else worth about 300kcal that must contain one vegetable or fruit 18:00: Dinner (chilli and rice, roast chicken and couscous, or root veg soup and bread, all weighed out on prep day to amounts totalling about 500kcal) 21:00: Something else around 200kcal (e.g. a Nakd bar, or a pint of Guinness if it's after rehearsals) (Total calories: about 1700/day) Goal 2: To make sure that my weekly food prep takes as little time as possible without resorting to ready meals or a life of pasta. I need to be able to get it all done in the space of about an hour. So one oven batch, Two hob batches, of the bung-it-in-a-pot-and-forget-about-it variety. Sounds like chilli-not-really-carne, lemon-roast fake chicken with onion and peppers, and root veg soup to me. - So I'd prep my three meals, all of which mean I just need to fry off one big batch of onions and divide between them Then while they're cooking I'll portion out some microwave rice (because sod it) for the chilli and chicken, and some bread to go with the soup. The bread then goes in the freezer so I don't absent mindedly munch on it. Then I'll weigh out my nuts for the week's morning snacks. Never really liked being the kind of person who weighs her nuts, but I'm also the kind of person who giggles furtively at the phrase “weigh out my nuts”, so I'm sure I'll get over it. Goal 3: To focus on bodyweight exercises, stamina in relation to weight, and flexibility I'm saving up for moving house in the summer, so as well as giving up take-away coffee I've had to give up my gym membership, so no lifting or warrior-ing for a while, sadly. But I need to make sure I'm generally physically capable, so I'm picking up the slack by focusing on bodyweight workouts. This will take the form of our old favourite, the Nerd Fitness BBWW, with my usual yoga poses and splits practice. I have too little room and too many bits of plate glass in my bedroom to warrant handstands practice, but I'll live. It'll also involve some extra stamina-based strength work like planks and wall-sits. Three mornings a week, at home. Life Goal: Don't get eaten up by project plans. Using a strict time management schedule to do this, because I am going to need my rest, and a strict routine gives me peace of mind. I'll get out the A2 paper and the pens to write out a proper schedule, with tasks for the morning, during the day, and night-time, when I know exactly what's what. Tracking: UPDATE YOUR THREAD UPDATE YOUR THREAD UPDATE YOUR THREAD. In addition, I'll have to put £1 in the Idiot Jar for every time I miss a goal that day. This includes paying a £1 fine for not updating my thread for two days in a row. *Insert various taking-off noises here.*