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As I am quite overwhelmed by the sheer amount of awesome posts Rangers have in this challenge already, I am going to keep this simple. This is my 2nd challenge. I am still getting the lay of the land and beginning to understanding the ins and outs of it all.. I will say I feel a certain amount of connection with Rangers.. I travel quite a bit for work and I normally wear a hoodie when I travel. So besides thinking this is what I look like sitting on the plane, and the fact I am often either exploring new cities every month or new places in cities I have been to, I also love the fact the Ranger description is a cross between Warriors and Scouts. I want to say my main physical activity is running. But I did start lifting weights and other gym stuff last month and I am really loving it. So I feel the kindred spirit of people who explore and strengthen. All that said.. On to this 4 week challenge.. This month I have two work trips planned already. 3 days next week and 4 the following week. I know when I travel I have to be very disciplined for my workouts and doubly so for my eating. I am hoping writing it all here will help keep me accountable (well, I know it will). I have already planned out in my calendar what days I am running and what days I am going to the gym for the next 8 weeks. I took the travel into account. So now its a matter of getting it done! My 2017 goals as they relate to my 4 week challenge.. - Finish Montreal 1/2 marathon Sep 24th, 2017 - Accomplish 3 sets of 8 unassisted pull ups (currently at 0) - Lose 50lbs by EOY and/or bring down body fat to 25% or less. (Currently down 5lbs) (On this note, happy to say I am down to 224 from 229 at the begging of the last challenge) woot woot! - Eliminate bad debt So my challenges will look very similar to last month with some tweaking.. I am also going to try a point system.. Q1 - Run at least 3x a week and at least 15km/week. BONUS points if I run over 20km, TRIPLE point score if I hit 25km in a week Every run over 3k +1, every week I get my 15km of runs in is +1, 20km +2, 25km +3. (I have not hit 20k in a week in a long while) Bonuses allowed as long as I do my 15km: any one run over 10K +1. And if I beat any of my PRs, also a +1. Goal: 17 points! (3 runs per week, 15k per week, one bonus) Q2 - Strength train 2x a week As I am so new to weight lifting and strength training in general, I can't set any numbers so I will simply put a +1 for every time I go to the gym and get my workout done. Goal: 8 points! Q3 - Track what I eat for at least 3 days a week, every week. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks I think I am doing pretty good watching most of what I eat. No soda, no fruit juices, etc... Last month I tried just cutting white bread and white pasta but that did not work for me in the end. This month I am going to concentrate on tracking to see where it is I am messing up most of the time. I also know that if I try to do it every day, I will fail. I use My Fitness Pal for tracking. So I want to track 3 full days a week. More if possible. +1 for each full day tracked. So +3 for each week I get 3 full days of tracking in. If I get more in, great +1 each. Goal: 12 points! Q4 - Create budget with specific caps on weekly extracurricular expenses (ie. restaurants, entertainment) and don't go over caps. My work situation is changing this month, so creating a new budget is a necessary part of the plan. +1 for creating the budget. +1 for identifying the specific "entertainment" line item weekly. +2 for each week I stick to it. Goal: 10 points! Q5 - Rest days Last but not least, I am adding this one in because I have a tendency to over do things. Friday and Sunday are usually my rest days. Saturday is usually my long run. I can do only one rest day a week if needed but would rather stick with 2 but not more. So simply at least 1 rest day but no more than 2 a week is a +1 for the week. Goal: 4 points! There we have it.. Away we go!!!!!

I don’t have a lot of plot exposition this time around, as I’m just mildly adjusting my last challenge, The Secret Life, which I feel really speaks to my overarching goals at the moment. I really want to travel more (by ‘more’ I think I mean ‘all the time’) and showcase my travel writing and photography more, so this challenge is designed for those things. Also, my December is going to be nuts so a simple challenge is best I also have a big trip coming in late spring that I’ll talk about more next challenge, but this challenge will begin to lay the groundwork. (And the financing.) To the Goals: PUT OUT THE MAGAZINE: I had a really hard time with this last time around; I’m not sure if it’s that I never seem to have a large block of time to get editing/writing done, or if I just have terminal ADD, but I only got it done once. So editing/writing is a big priority this time. Goal: “publish” something once a week, and post to my blog twice. Travel Journal: work on an ebook. I have like 3-ebooks half written (all about travel, go figure) so I need to work on those. Sell the Piano: Travel may be the only thing you buy that makes you richer, but it still costs money. I need to find ways to make extra cash to pay for it. I used to have a little ebay business where I sold second-hand clothes and old props and whatever, so I am going to start that again and funnel all the money into my travel fund. I’ll also be looking into other ways to generate income (sell my plasma? dog walking? ladies wrestling?) that also goes to the travel kitty. Get it? It's a travel kitty. Bake the Cake: Last challenge I attempted to eat a different foreign cuisine every week, which was frighteningly easy, because I love to eat out. However, I spend a fortune eating out in general, probably 6-7 times a week. So this challenge I am limiting meals out to two per week (meals that someone else pays for, like when I’m traveling for work, do not count against this), and making myself cook/eat at home. Still going to attempt to eat as much ethnic cuisine as possible. This will make it easier for me to control my intake, as restaurants (especially Tex-Mex, my favorite) tend to go overboard with the food, and work on my nutrition. Adventure Waits for no one: Again, aiming for one adventure a week. Can be a band, a hike, camping, kayaking, becoming a hermit in a mountain fastness, something. Ungoverned Afganistan: My domestic rangering is in severe disarray. One whole section of our house is basically unusable due to mess (I live in one of those sprawling split-ranch houses, it’s way to big and falling apart around us). I need to work on cleaning the patio, den, and my office daily and get it under control. Test the Body and Mind: Workouts. I’ll list these later so they don’t bore everyone, because they haven’t changed a ton. Just harder I’m also going to add one brain puzzle per day to my regimen, because lately I feel like I’m getting stupider. I think it’s just a combination of too much on my mind and a lot of distraction, but I gotta work on it. By the way, in case it seems weird that I have so much travel stuff on a site devoted to workout challenges, I have to say that my whole “get in shape” journey was started because I got so out of condition that traveling was becoming difficult. One of the reasons I finally snapped to and started getting stuff under control was watching my parents age badly and realizing that if I wanted to continue traveling as I got older, I needed to maintain the machine. So the two things go very much hand-in-hand in my book. So that’s it! Join me on my very Mitty challenge if you’d be so kind.

Annyshay... Wake up... Annyshay, the chosen one... I am Rauru, one of the ancient sages who built the Temple of Time to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm... This is the Chamber of Sages, inside the Temple of Light... The Temple of Light, situated in the very center of the Sacred Realm, is the last stronghold against the Ganondorf's evil forces.

Hiya! I am usually with the Rangers but I'm dropping in to glean some Assassin-y wisdom. This challenge I'm putting myself through boot camp. Oh no, not the kind with yelling and mud. The kind with glitter, love and self-improvement. (And maybe a little mud.) The format will be a little different to typical challenges. Basically I've set aside this month, in which I'm moving back in with my parents, to make the final preparations for my Epic Travel Adventure. This will involve WWOOFing in Australia and Germany for (hopefully) a year. I'm miles ahead of where I used to be (like a couch potato, but more of a couch turnip), but I'm still very overweight and not used to the solid 4-5 hours of physical work per day that is expected in WWOOFing. So now that the holiday hullabaloo has passed, I have two main goals: Goal #1: Create a custom no-equipment travel-proof workout (and do at least some of it daily): Barbells have been my mainstay since I got into fitness so I am a bit bamboozled by the world of bodyweight training! But I've done bits and pieces in exercise classes, and I have a month to put it together. So far I have 3 main areas of interest: 1. basic bodyweight strength exercises 2. mobility/accessory work 3. restorative work - stretching, yoga etc. to deal with the aches from the work I will be doing I'm thinking of a modular workout, with some basic bodyweight exercises (a la Steve's Beginner Body Weight Workout) and a different area of mobility work each time, but if I'm not feeling it that day, just 2 basic exercises and I'm done, to avoid slipping into the 'I'll start tomorrow' mentality. I will be hashing out the details over the first two weeks. Goal #2: Scale up the amount of time I spend being active WWOOFing usually involves a 4-5 hour workday, 5 days a week. I will scale up my active time each week from 2 hours daily to 5 hours daily, with weekends to rest or make up lost hours. This includes exercise, housework and gardening - doesn't have to be too strenuous, as long as I'm on my feet. If I pick up a little casual work while I'm there, it will likely be something active. These 'work blocks' will ideally be mostly in the morning with an early start. Week 0: 2 hour work blocks (I'll probably do more than this) Week 1: 3 hour work blocks Week 2: 3.5 hour work blocks Week 3: 4 hour work blocks Week 4: 4.5 or 5 hour work blocks Let the sparkling begin!

Hey! I want advice, tips, clever hacks, and we can all share them! I am flying to Japan in a few weeks, and I am bringing ONE BAG, it looks like it's going to be the Ebags' Weekender Convertible 2.0, if you care. And NO PERSONAL ITEM. This means literally EVERYTHING is going in there. For two weeks. So, got any advice? Here's some ideas I've had so far: I'm packing a superlight 60L folding duffel to check for the trip home. I am rolling my clothes. Speaking of clothes, I'm wearing/layering heavier clothes on the trip, and what's in my suitcase are older underoos and socks that are seeing their last days. I'm going to dispose of them before returning home. Then I get to buy fancy new socks and undies at home! Same for clothes only if they are in nice enough condition, I'm donating them before I leave, thus freeing up room in my carry-on for souvenirs see: the good stuff. The nicer clothes I am keeping I'll wear out of the country, or roll up and shove in the checked bag. I am taking a 1x2x1" (rough estimate) cut of a Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap bar, which is super multipurpose, and peppermint is refreshing, I've found it's helpful when you feel bedraggled or under the weather. It can be soap, shampoo, laundry detergents, whatevs. It's wrapped in a cut of old towel. Instant washcloth. I just ordered some cash at my bank, in advance, so now I have about $500 worth of spending yen. I am bringing my favourite travel pillow, which is a cylinder of memory foam, and embedded in it is segmented pipe, so I can wrap it in whatever position works (I think I'm stuck in the middle seat, most likely, as my flight got changed so... them's the breaks. I'm wearing boots, packing low profile sneakers... I am also bringing a back up phone! It has no sim card, I am using it as a camera, I can change out the Micro SD cards, and I can recharge the phone/camera via USB, even better, I have a powerbank. I am grumpy that swank cameras don't have this ability, but my old Samsung G5 worked fine as a camera, and it shall again. I also have a 360 camera now, which I am hoping to make a shared online archive of immersive photos of neat places. I think it's a cool idea, but I am not totally comfortable with making it work yet, and it sucks battery pretty hard. That's sort of my plan, and some of it is clever travel hacking, that maybe will help someone else in the future. Does anyone else have any tricks for travel, especially light packing crazy travel? I want to geek out on insoles or soaps, or foldable microfiber towels... Let's talk! I used to tour around for a small living, and learned a bunch about traveling domestic, etc, in a band, and often it translates over great for international travel, but I am always looking for new ideas. Problems or issues I'd like help with: I have a Surface Pro 3 laptop I am split on taking. I sort of think it's a good idea, I'd keep it in a waterproof bag, and it's a fully functioning laptop, and drawing surface (I'm an illustrator), it'd be massively helpful for the 21 hours or so of travel to and fro, but then I have to haul it around everywhere. It's small for a laptop, but had a charger, and such. Just looking for input. Air China is pretty strict on economy carry-on restrictions, namely my carry-on shouldn't be more than 11kg. I am hoping no one takes my bag away to weigh it, but I am trying to keep my belongings down to around the 15lb mark, and I am afraid that might be super difficult. We'll see.

Merry Christmas, all you gay people! (Gay as in happy and/or modern definition) Too early? Too bad! Part of my challenge will be to try and capture that Christmas magic feeling I had as a child as Christmas slow-poked (that is the way it felt then) its way closer. Some information: I run my challenges Mon through Sun. So it official starts on the Dec 5 for me and ends on Jan 1 2017. I basically have three objectives plus an event "interruption": Fitness, fitness, fitness! (I'll explain what I plan to do for all of these below.) Becoming nomadic! (My new way of saying: prepping to go long-term traveling. New way is shorter.) Writing! This thing everyone I know thinks I try to do a lot of... Event Interruptus: I have a good friend coming over to visit my house for the first time (and last time? ) She will come late Friday during Week 2 and stay until sometime Sunday (probably between noon and late afternoon). This means a couple of things: I need to finish my writing things for that week early (story and workshop); I need to move around my workouts if any fall during the weekend; I will need to clean a lot before she comes (at least vacuum everywhere, and clean bathrooms and kitchen); I will take a break from nomadic-prepping; and it will be an excellent time to try and capture some Christmas magic (good companionship, perhaps baking, etc.). ~*~*~*~*~*~ Fitness: I've ordered these and I kinda plan to see it as priority. Except I'd rather do workouts on the right days, instead of moving to get steps. Continue to recreate the walking/steps habit I had earlier this year. Still aim for 6'500 steps until habit is firmly back in place. Week 0–4. Strong Inside Out Bootcamp. This is one of the camp headmasters' programs. It is 30 days and started just before this challenge. This is strength workouts and cardio workouts. Basically a whole program, plus some mindset stuff for approximately four weeks. Week 0–3. For Week 4, I don't know yet what I will do. Either I will dig into the NF Academy or get back to the workouts I kinda get because I contributed to a Kickstarter (trying to help prepare me for my reward). Becoming Nomadic: These are kind of ordered for priority, but kinda also not. I can guarantee 4 and 5 will happen. I want to do some real progress on 1–3 though. Work on this should happen every day. But I'm not specifying when any specific tasks will fall. Except that 2 should probably happen early in the challenge because CHRISTMAS. Manage to cross of some appointments I need to do. Finish off some paper work (name change, new passports/cards in new name, finances (not necessarily all of that)). Start prepping to sell some of my stuff (aka take photos of them and start figuring out the sell websites (we have good Swedish ones)). Continue making lists and distilling the information I learn from reading/research. Continue reading/researching. Writing: This will be a mostly weekly focus, as in I will have weekly deadlines I need to hit. Preferably I won't just try to do everything on the day of the deadline... Write three flash/short stories for the first three weeks. Deadlines for friend project and up-coming workshop. Deadline will fall on Sundays, or technically 9:00 on Monday mornings. Week 0–2. Online craft/genre workshop (Writing Mystery). It will have weekly video content (around 1 hour) and a weekly assignment (can take anything from 10 minutes to 6 hours). Assignment turn in will fall on Sunday, or technically 9:00 on Monday mornings (probably, will have to double check when it starts). Week 1–4. Christmas Magic: This is Week 0–3, obviously. After that it is after Christmas. Listen to Christmas music every day. Sing Christmas songs/carols at least once weekly. Bake some Christmas things. Cook Christmas things? Install the Christmas lights. Set up Christmas tree and its lights. Decorate the tree. Light a fire in fire place at least once. Post-Christmas Magic: Totally made up this category as I got to it, because apparently New Years happen during this challenge! Week 4. Visit parents (and tell them my nomadic plans...) Celebrate New Years ~*~*~*~*~*~ So we'll see how well I can keep up on three priorities. My last challenge (Dagger ooching...) showed that I could at least keep one priority firmly in my head (becoming nomadic), and start actually focusing on a second one (exercise). And I would focus on just two things, if life didn't force me not too. And here I'm obviously not counting the Christmas priority, which I'm not going to run like a goal in that way. It is more an intention to see if I can enjoy the holidays more like I did as a child (although I dearly hope I don't get as many material presents as I did back then because then I need to sell them...).

This time around, like so many of my other challenges, I started out with one idea and it morphed into something totally other. I was planning to do a "Spartan Race" challenge because I'm attempting one in December (full disclosure: I'm probably going to die) and while I was looking for some good movie quotes I stumbled across "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" which I hadn't seen before, watched it, and I sort of latched on to it instead. It really seemed to speak to where I'm at right now. So instead of Gerard Butler's abs you get to look at Ben Stiller for a month. I am so sorry. On the bright side, there will be tacos. Anywaaaaay.... I did a lot of interesting stuff at the beginning of the year when I took a work break, to try to widen my horizons and sort of chase my dreams of traveling more and showcasing my travel photography and writing. I did a few things, but when I went back to work (sooner than planned, actually) those things kind of went on the back burner and I got sucked into day-to-day boringness again. Like Walter, I became a little gray piece of paper. (this is not technically accurate because I don't work in an office, but you get the idea.) So I want to revive some of those goals and start writing, adventuring, etc again. I really feel like I'm missing out on my last chance to be this person I want to be by getting bogged down in minutia. I'm getting really old - and I need to take the proverbial leap of faith. Fortunately I'm coming into a slower season for my job and I am going to work diligently at managing my time and not wasting hours futzing on the internets* obsessing over weird stuff, so I have more time for adventures. Also the weather is changing for the better finally (summer was like hell's vestibule this year) so I can re-incorporate some of the stuff I did for "Escape of the Zoo Human" like camping and suchlike without an oxygen tank and weapons-grade insect repellent. But enough plot exposition. To the GOALS! PUT OUT THE MAGAZINE: In the movie Walter works at LIFE magazine, just as it is supposedly shutting down. Ironically, the very "digital revolution" that wiped out the magazine enables goons like me to share their work online easily and reach an audience. So my goal is to work on my podcasts, photography, videos etc at least four days a week, and "publish" something once a week. TRAVEL JOURNAL: Walter has a travel journal in the film that serves as a talisman of his dreams. There's a great sequence where he looks at the journal and then the next time you see it he's writing in it in the Himalayas. It sort of symbolizes the moment Walter starts living his adventures for real, instead of just dreaming about them. I don't plan to go to Ungoverned Afganistan and the lower Himalayas**, but I my goal is to post to my travel blog 4 times a week. It can just be a "photo of the day" or something similar. SELL THE PIANO: Almost at the end of the film, Walter has to sell his mom's piano, which has been bogging everyone physically, emotionally, and financially down, all through the movie. It's a good symbol of letting go of "stuff". Goal: I want to streamline my possessions and get rid of 20% of my stuff. I plan to do this on a room-by-room basis, to make it more manageable. THE WORLD ON YOUR PLATE: There's a lot of food references in SLOWM, including a scene where Cheryl is bringing some sort of tasty noodle lunch back to the office, a bit where Walter almost chokes on some horrible dried-fish snack in a Greenland dive bar, and of course the recurring appearances of his mom's warlord-approved clementine cake. (bonus points for anyone who knows "Cake or Death") I am lucky that I live in a very "International" sort of city (albeit in the suburbs) and I have access to all kinds of ethnic restaurants, music, art etc. I used to have a "foreign food Friday" routine where I dragged one of my friends to a different foreign cuisine every week, to experiment. (I would pay for their meal in case it was disgusting). I want to re-instate that and also start going more musical, artsy things as well. This is especially good for me because the time is going to change soon and it will get dark at 6pm, at which point I will want to hibernate until spring, like a bear. I need serious motivation to get out of the house in winter. Goal: 2x a week. (Fortunately ethnic food is usually cheap) ADVENTURE WAITS FOR NO ONE: Goal: one small adventure a week - camping, kayaking, museum, rock climbing gym, attend a lecture, get waterboarded, something. Moment of serious: I had a lot of shocks in the last 12 months. I had a serious bike accident, I had a serious car accident, a giant tree fell almost on my house, my father died unexpectedly, I had two close friends lose best friends/spouses to illness... I don't know how many times the universe is going to warn me that life has a timer before I fucking get the message but it's the truth. I'm 48 years old, which means my life is more than half over by any rational statistical reckoning. Two-thirds, really. I NEED to have a midlife crisis. Because time runs out. Okay, enough serious. Look at this kitten until you feel better. TEST YOUR LIMITS: You thought I was going to get through this entire post without talking about Crossfit, didn't you? You did. hahahahaha, you sweet, foolish person. I will be preparing for my Spartan Race (December 4th! whooot!) so I will be training like a madwoman for that, and I'm toying with getting into adventure racing (where you run, kayak, parachute, whatever). There will be pullups, there will be ring work, there will be deadlifting and handstands, and I will babble about it constantly, because RANGERING, BITCHES. Ummmm okay I think that's it. I don't know how these things always get so long. I may have used up all my Walter Mitty pictures so it's back to cat gif's shortly, I'm afraid. Probably this is better for everyone. *not including NF, obviously. I mean, be reasonable. **never say never, though

(moved from Battle Log Section) This will be my official Blog for all of my traveling adventure summaries Adventure 1 – Road through History and Liberty Saturday I have returned from a weeks’ vacation. I was at Williamsburg Virginia. I go on this trip almost every year for the past 6 to 8 years. This time however due to being a part of Nerd Fitness, I have turned my trip into a quest. I broke it down to multiple parts to grade my growth Nutrition- To eat healthy throughout the week Knowledge- to learn something new Adventure- to travel new area and gain new experiences I will not lie to you all and tell you that I have done what I have set out to do. Some aspects I completed with flying colors. On the other I have failed and will make up for it on the up and coming weeks. The quest of Nutrition, like other, vacation I have failed at. Throughout the week I kept a food log to watch and see what I would each. In the nicest of ways, I ate crap. Burgers, Pizza, so on and so forth. The Knowledge portion I believe I have grown in. I believe that anytime that I go to Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown that I learn something new. I learned about the JD Rockefellers Jr. who reconstructed Williamsburg from the past. I was able to see new archeological sites that are bringing and rewriting history even now. Adventure, now this was something that I can say was complete. This year I have traveled to two now areas within near Williamsburg, more close to Richmond, The Berkley Plantation and Shirley Plantation. Both of these sites were full or massive amounts of history. My girlfriend and I walk through the gardens and house tours to find out mysteries that once I never had known. We have also walked miles around, in, and through the Colonial Areas of Williamsburg. We attended a concert within the Governors Palace. We danced at the Raleigh Tavern Billiard Room. We listen to ghost story There was so much to do and yet we ran out of time. I, since then, have put myself on a schedule were fitness and discipline due to my failure of the Nutrition portion of my trip. I am walking to and from my bus stops to work each day; to is a ½ Mile and from is 1 ½ mile. I am currently doing the academies workout, to ease myself into the hardcore working out. I will be the fittest I ever been for the next Spartan Race and other OCR’s that I am doing. I will be in shape and happy for my Next adventure Item Received for Trip: Print (Surrender at Yorktown) and Book (Common Sense by Thomas Paine) Please Comment, Question and thank you.

I'm really just starting this thread because I like to have a home to hang out in. Battle logs are just not the same. This is going to be a bit of a weird challenge. In 10 days I'm flying out to San Francisco to go to Burning Man! For anyone unfamiliar with BM here's a nice little video: After BM I'm flying down to LA for a few days, then back to Sweden, then BACK to the US for a conference in Boston 10 days laters. I'll stay there for about 10 days (hey look at that) then another 10ish days before traveling down to my parents' place in Sweden for a GMB workshop. PHEW! I'm tired just typing that out! I've already lost any semblance of a routine in the last month or two, first because of injury, then because of visiting friends, and now because I'm deep into preparations for Burning Man. This challenge is going to be a token effort to at least not mess up my body more than necessary. Goal #1: Hydrate! This is going to be super important in the desert. I'm a terrible drinker of water, I forget to drink very easily and while most times it's ok (even though I do tend to slip into light dehydration mode on a semi-regular basis to be honest) it's going to be CRUCIAL to drink enough in the desert. So I need to start getting used to it now. I'm going to aim to drink 2.5 liters of water per day until I leave and then drink even more in the desert. Since I know I'll be doing a lot of flying (and boozing) even after BM I'm going to keep the goal when I get back but with a new baseline. Goal #2: Move! This is going to be lamest training goal ever. Move for at least 15 minutes every day. Any type of movement or maintenance work is ok. But max one lying on the floor passive stretch. Plus points if it's a GMB friendly activity. Go for at least one long walk per week. Do strengthy work 3x/week (ish). It doesn't even have to be all in one day. But 3 sets of pull, push, legs, core and some kind of armbalance or inversion. Except when I'm at Burning man, then the "goal" is to explore, mess around on the artwork, play and dance. Goal #3: Don't get fat With all the travel my eating is going to get weird. That's ok. But getting fatter is not ok, I'm already at the very high end of comfortable. This is a very vague goal, but basically: Don't eat like a jerk. Eat more veggies and fruit. WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Zero Week everyone! ZERO WEEK!!!! It's time to go on this weird trip that's been looming over my calendar like some sort of mysterious fog that may or may not turn us all inside out. I've absolutely been looking forward to it - I always have a blast with this corner of the family, and we tend to meet up in pristine bits of nature hidden away from the chaos of life... But it's also a solid two weeks away, and I've been using it as an excuse avoid life things, pushing a lot of it off for "after." Well, after this last challenge of soul searching, none of that really matters now, and I have a determined path going forward, but I am still looking forward to both going away, and also hitting the ground running when I get back, both of which will be hapenning during this challenge! I'm also quite sure that I'm completetly unsure of what my connectivity will be like while I'm away (the campgrounds boast "poor service" and "limited wifi" in order to enhance our unplugged experience), so I'll do my best to stay up on stuff here, but I may ghost cause unplugged ZERO WEEK! Is for max testing to see where I'm at after this first round of PHUL. Resting today with some yoga, testing tomorrow on Tuesday, cleaning the house, using up groceries, packing - everything to get ready to leave on Thursday (at like 3 in the morning. Why is it so hard to get a reasonably timed flight??) ~Max test ~Adult for trip _____ WEEK 1 I'll be gone doing wildernessy stuff, also sleeping, eating, and generally being lazy. I have a planned break from heavy lifting during this time, and have already stopped myself mid google - looking for gyms with day passes I'll be doing plenty of other physical things, and will allow copious amounts of BW stuff like pushups and squats if I want it, and am planning on packing the TRX even if I don't use it. ACE materials as well. Expect pictures when connectivity allows ~Don't lift!!! ~Don't cut!!! ~Don't stress!!! _____ WEEK 2 Will essentially serve as my zero week for the next round of PHUL, feeling out working set numbers and adjusting hypertrophy choices for weaknesses and aesthetics. I will also be starting (or continuing... we'll see how travel study goes), a strict routine for ACE certification prep. It's too soon to make the overall projections, but I want to be ready for the test as soon as possible. ~Don't let holiday lazy seep into real life ~Be realistic about hyper alternatives _____ WEEKS 3 & 4 I should be back to a normal routine by week 3, training a minimum of 4X a week, studying on the regular, and ironing out the last of the kinks in the play before production starts in September. ~Lift ~Eat ~Study

Lucky fire dragon has no plan After many ambitious challenges, some successful, some not so much, I am at a point where I don't have any plan and don't even feel like one - very unusual, but let's bear with it and see where the tides might take me, I'm confident it'll be a good place as long as I keep my head up For those who don't know me yet, I'm a 40 year old mother of three, working part time as healing practitioner and spiritual coach. I love pole dancing and have worked myself up to Level 2+ (which is still beginners but posh enough to look impressive to non-polers ), have dabbled a bit in aerial hoop and very basic gymnastic rings exercises, love singing and travelling, which I'm going to get to do in the second half of this challenge, travel that is, with my dear family to our lovely family in beautiful South Africa. Pole dance has hit a summer low in my motivation right now, which I decided is okay, but being lazy while munching all the yummies on our holiday won't be okay, so I'll have to do something, even it's not totally structured through and aiming for specific things. So here is my no-plan-plan for the coming 4 weeks 1. Get some clue I'm pulling myself towards myself and will actually count my calorie intake for the two weeks that I am still here in all detail with my fitbit app. I have no clue right now how much I take in, so how will I know what I need to burn in order for it to be balanced? Right, gotta get a clue Will report total of each day here for accountability. So far I won't judge or aim for a maximum, just tracking to know my present habits. 2. Burn some, no matter how I'll start with setting my goal at burning 2000 kcal / day and might have to adapt in the coming weeks, depending what point 1 will show... It doesn't matter how I do it as long as by midnight 2000 kcal are burned up. It's like the shopaholic girl wondering about money - either she has to spend less or make more, spending less doesn't work for her, so she opts for making more. I don't feel like limiting myself too much during holiday and family fun times, so I'll just have to burn some more let's hope I'm better at it than she is at making money Ideas to draw from for all the burns: - walking - hooping - running - rope skipping - yoga - pole dance - pilates - darebee or other workouts -... (to be extended) 3. Get clearer This is threefold: I want to keep my meditations going in the mornings which will be easy during the first two weeks as I am doing them together with some clients of mine via webinar (isn't technology awesome ) but I'd like to keep it going afterwards on my own as well. Writing diary to my Larger Self counts as well as that gets me into a happy, constructive and calm state just the same. The other parts are physical: I want to pick up some eye training again. Had a book on it a while ago, but it had too few real exercises for my taste so I got myself this great book on the Bates method by Nathan Oxenfeld "Give up your glasses for good" and since then it is lying there and simply doesn't move into my knowledge by osmosis, I might have to actually read it I don't even wear glasses, but do have a slight short sightedness that worsens when I stare at screens too long, read too much or get tired. So I'd like to catch it before I really need glasses, plus I think life would be a lot brighter with clear focus... AND I want to spot all the pretty birds and antelopes in South Africa So I'll read 15 min / day in this book and/or do exercises from it And last but not least: hydration! So helpful and yet when I don't track it I don't do it. 2 Liters of water will do for most days, sometimes I could do with more, but if I do those 2 every day I'll call it a yay For easy tracking meditation 0/28 eye training 0/28 2liters of water 0/28 Oh, and it would be awesome to take part in the mini again, of course Oh, oh, AND I will keep my improved work habits up and tackle the tougher things early on with the Monkey Tamers United again. To be absolutely recommended!! So let the games begin... Best of success everyone, let's have some FUN

Take a good look, because that is just ONE of the awesome places I'm going next month. So, I totally fell off during the last challenge. Had some old issues come back up and kick my ass real good. Knocked me off my feet for a couple of weeks and set me back hard on just about every one of my goals. The only thing I was able to hold on to was the control over my diet, which has been pretty okay. I've managed to keep making my own lunches regularly, and keeping my caloric intake down has kept me hovering right around the 200lb mark. Fortunately, I've also managed to mostly hold on to my routine of getting to class. It's become almost the background noise of my life... doesn't matter how much the day sucks or how awful I feel--if I can walk, I make it to Kung Fu and do the best I can. I've also done some regular-ish walking around the office park at work, trying to keep my activity up in a low-bodily-impact manner until my body decides to stop being a bitch. I'm now two weeks from departure on my five-year-late European honeymoon. Wife and I have been planning this trip for the past 18 months. We'll start by flying into Copenhagen, Denmark, and spending two days there before hopping a train (which, I kid you not, gets on a BOAT) which will take us to Germany for the remainder of the two weeks. In Cologne, we will attend the final farewell concert of our favorite German band (Unheilig), and then set off for a week in the Moselle river valley. We'll cap things off in the place pictured above, by attending a Medieval Market (and meet up with a certain other Rebel!), and generally enjoying quiet German village life for a couple of days. Since the issues that are plaguing me still have not subsided, and I'm leaving in two weeks, I'm not really going to be pursuing a challenge-as-such this time. The next fortnight will be filled with a whirlwind of preparations, packing, printing, and making sure that everything is in place so that I can leave my house alone for two weeks without any problems. In that time, I will still be attending class of course, at least until 9/2. (I might go on 9/5; it will depend on how well I do packing that weekend.) In happy news, there is a tentative plan for my first sash testing(!) this Saturday. I'll confirm it tonight, but Sifu wants to test me before I leave, and there's very little time left for that! So, I'm not dead, and still very much looking forward to my upcoming travels. I miss you guys--once I get back, I'll be hanging out here more again as I try to sort out post-trip blues and get my life back on track again =)

I didn't do the best job on my last challenge, so I've basically decided to do it over again. The Fairy Glen is another destination I want to check out in the Highlands. It's not too long, but I figure I'll use all the motivation I can get. While I’m trying to get ready for all the UK fun, I’m also trying to get ready for a timed 5K in September. This will also contribute to fun and adventure in the UK. Goal #1 - 5K Training Walk at least 3 days a week Improve on my baseline time. I took a slow, easy 5K walk this morning as a baseline. The time was 1:14. Goal #2 - Hill Training Hill walking at least once a week I’ll probably just walk to the top of the hill in my neighborhood and back down. Rinse and repeat for 30 minutes. Goal #3 - Foods Intermittent fasting (Lean Gains seems to work well for me) Eat all the food between Noon and 8pm Meal Prep Prep lunches for the week so I'm not starving when I get home and eating all the food all night long. Weekends Stick to Lean Gains schedule. No pigging out on whatever is around Goal #4 - Feed My Brain Complete SQL Course at Khan Academy

STARPUCK SEEKS HER DESTINY IN A SCAVENGER WORLD It has been just a few months since our young heroine discovered her affinity for The Force and began down that fateful path. Having been a timid girl for most of her youth, the teachings of the dark side drew her attention quite thoroughly. There was strength and determination to be found in their ways; passion, strength, power, victory... chains broken by freeing herself from that which held her back. But not all was well with such wild, uncontrolled emotions and as she learned to master those passions, she found that an even greater need was yet unmet... Balance. Fate would have her find an ancient text, written and notated by many of the wisest of Jedi... The Jedi Path, an informative manual that outlined life as a Jedi from initiate up through the ranks of Master. She took to this journal and began to study it, and through it, found the Jedi Code and its tenets. Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force. Now, as she strives to learn more about the code that goes against the teachings of the Sith that she had first studied, she finds herself being sent to distant worlds where she will have only her wits, and the Force, to guide her. Perhaps she will find the balance that she so desperately seeks... perhaps she will find a part of herself she did not even know could exist. Ahem! Was feeling a bit creative and so yeah, that happened! It totally ties in though, I promise! You see, I will be on my epic adventure vacation through all of Week 2 and so I needed some way to work that into, and around, the challenge. GOAL #1 - Emotion, yet Peace The whole trip is a push out of my comfort zone because this is the first BIG trip that I am not traveling with either my father or sister as back up/veteran travelers. AKA, the Padawan is out on her first mission where she alone is in charge. I believe that my natural tendency is toward anxiety, so I am going to make a conscious effort to find peace when I am beginning to get anxious. My form of meditation will be prayer. Because I'm really bad at this. Really really really bad. This will be a perfect chance to work on developing a new habit. So as not to overwhelm, and to keep things attainable, we're starting off with a very small goal. Prayer and Meditation: 3x/week + whenever anxious. GOAL #2 - Ignorance, yet Knowledge This one is fun! This is my food and eating goal. The ignorance side comes from the fact that I am NOT counting calories- ie, I am ignorant of my caloric intake! The yet Knowledge side pertains to my goal of making smart decisions and choosing healthy, real food 80% of the time or better. To steal a term from @Tanktimus the Encourager - I will allow myself so many variances per week. These are my 'living life' indulgences and to be enjoyed without guilt. Variances Schedule: Week 1 : 2 Vacation : 5 Week 3 : 2 Week 4 : 2 GOAL #3 - Passion, yet Serenity This has to do with all the things I am passionate about. Which, on any given day is enough to tire out four people. I often joke that I need shadow clones so I can do all that I want to do in a given day. Art is really progressing nicely and I want to maintain this new habit as it forms. I see progress and I've stuck to it even when it's been hard and frustrating. This is SO important for me. My RPG nights, and hockey, and everything else also has to find a place - so the goal is to find a place of serenity between the things I do, rather than overdo one or another and burn out. Continue Art Work: 3x / week (*vacation week allows exceptions) Step out of Routine, explore your world: 1x / week Examples: A more significant hike, a bike ride in a new area, meeting with friends instead of playing online, doing things that others like even if it's not your favorite thing, try new things, pull out an old hobby, etc. GOAL #4 - Chaos, yet Harmony This is my exercise goal. Basically. I am not going to pick how many times a week to do which thing or anything like that. It will be chaos! And yet I plan on relying on the habits I've been building over the last several months to just get things done. The goal is body harmony. Listening to my body, while still training in a variety of ways. I'll continue to strength train, adapting to what I can do while on vacation. I'll continue to run or bike ride to enjoy the summer weather and keep my body in motion. On days that I don't do too much, I will walk, or be otherwise active. In short, I will keep my body in motion, resting when it asks me for such, and try to find a balance. Force Move: 5x/week engage in any kind of activity that goes beyond sitting around. Force Rest: 1x/week engage in rest, active rest allowed. BONUS GOAL : Do a Star Wars themed photo shoot while at White Sands National Monument. Because... seriously... this place is perfect for it. Only hurdle is getting a costume put together in time!

Or maybe a Spartan king? I figured I’d continue with the pattern of animated movies about felines. I’m going to be travelling to Paris during Week 1, from 7/16 – 7/24. So, I’m going to treat this week (Week 0) as my Week 1 and Week 1 as my Week 0. (A Cat in Paris also tempted me as a theme topic. And Aristocats is set in Paris too. There are so many animated Paris movies.) My goals are pretty much the same as they have been the past two challenges. Goal 1: Maintain Fitness 3 workouts/week (usually 1 bootcamp and 2 at home bodyweight workouts) Run 1x/week + ankle alphabets before and after. I’m working on 3.7 miles right now, and trying to get up as close to 5 miles as I can before the Spartan next month. Walk 16 miles/week (64 over course of challenge) Goal 2: Movement Focus (Spartan Prep) I’m done with sets of burpees. The moment I was able to achieve 30 in a row, I lost interest in doing these. So, I’m switching to a grease the groove approach. I’ll do the remaining 350 burpees I owe from the past two challenges over the course of this one. Climb stuff – I dropped this completely last challenge, but I should at least try to practice climbing stuff in preparation for my fear of heights. Mainly the jungle gym at the park. I’ve thought about trying bouldering at a rock gym, but that might be pushing it. That’s the sort of thing I’d love to try, but I’d rather have a friend along for. While I’m at the park, I might as well use the monkey bars. Goal 3: Food Part A: Maintain What Works (23 points/week) Don’t eat after 8pm (or within 3 hours of bedtime) (-1 point for failure). Exceptions on Thursdays where workouts and Aikido coincide. Don’t eat more than 1 bad food/meal in a day. Desserts are counted separately from meals in most cases. (-1 point for failure) Eat primalish most of the time (19 meals / week allows for 2 variance meals) (-1 point per failure, +1 point for extra primal meal) Aim for primal snacks on 4 days/week and then non-primal snacks ok 3 days per week (out of 4 points/week) Aim for at least 1 primal meal and 1 50% meal per day when travelling or hosting (-1 point per failure, +1 per success) Plan/prep meals over the weekend and prep/freeze meals for weeks when this doesn’t happen (+1 point when done successfully) Write down bad reactions to food choices in an ongoing spreadsheet to dissuade myself from making that choice a second time. Not connected to any points. Doing this is slowly starting to help me make better choices. Slowly. Part B: Conscious Eating Think about what I’m about to do before eating something. Ideally, pause and take a few deep breaths. If I eat something unhealthy, recognize and acknowledge that I’m about to sell out my future self. (4 points per day – 3 meals and snacks) Part C: Cholesterol Management SomethingSomething The nature of this goal will depend on what the doctor says about the bloodwork I’m getting done on the 13th. I probably won’t be able to hear the results from her until I’m back from Paris. So for Week 0 (my Week 1) I’ll just keep aiming for 25g of fiber per day. Then I’ll evaluate and decide on this goal after I get back and hear what the doctor says. Goal 4: Be a Mighty King (life goal sort of) This is where I try to stretch things to somehow fit my theme. Kings need to see things from a variety from perspectives, so I’m going to do the same. I want to spend 4 hours/week standing when I would not have otherwise and 2 hours/week sitting on the ground instead of on furniture. There's a communal standing desk at work, so I should be able to get the standing done easily during the 3 days I'm in the office if I do about 1.5 hours each day. 2 hours of sitting on the ground will probably happen at home while reading or watching TV. I'll probably break this down into 30 minutes 4 days a week. I chose this goal because I have a lot of posture issues and muscle imbalances related to sitting, but I never had the same issues when I used to always sit on the floor because on the floor you naturally fidget a lot more. It's more natural. And the standing has some obvious benefits as well. Bonus Goals: These earn me extra points, but they cannot take priority over my main goals. Meditate daily (7 per week) Yoga 4 times per week, of any length Clean the sink before bed 4 times per week NEW Sleepy Sundays – try to get things done (grocery shopping, workouts, etc.) before Sunday, so I can spend Sunday resting instead of running around stressed. Be in bed by 10pm so I start the week off with enough rest. I really liked sleepy Sundays last challenge, so I’d like to try to make it a habit. Travel Protocols: While I’m in Paris, I’ll be anxious enough already with worrying about not speaking the language and whether the French people all hate me. So there's no need to worry about trying to eat a certain way, or I’d go crazy. So, my goals are simple. I'm not scoring them since it's my Week 0, but I would like to at least maintain the workout/meditation streaks I have going currently. 3 workouts. They can be short, but do something even if it’s just a 15 minute BBWW in the hotel room Meditate daily (hopefully I can maintain my headspace streak while using the WiFi at the hotel) MAYBE 1 run if there’s a treadmill at the hotel and I feel comfortable enough to use it. Try to stretch every morning/evening or maybe squeeze in a yoga video once or twice. I always forget to stretch on trips and then turn into Frankenstein, and I would like to avoid that this time.

Yaaay, it's down-week! I'm in Quebec, which means I'm in my "travel pseudo-routine": try to not eat too much crap, go to a formal gym at least once, try to hit 10k steps a day, and wake up in according to whatever time zone I'm in. Saturday, my trip is over and insanity sets in... Fortunately, I discovered a few weeks ago that looking at what's coming at me on a week-by-week basis is a great way to stay on track and not get into "panic mode." So here's the plan: Generally Do PT/Yoga/Mob work daily (7x/wk) CF (or comprable) as much as possible. Work outs should be listed by week. BONUS for getting my first ring muscle up (I'm so close!) Eat semi-Paleo. If I'm aiming for abs, I need to eat low carb and clean. Weekly Week 0 - Quebec! Work out once, go bouldering, drink once. No running shoes = no run. Goal: walk 10k/day, don't eat too much crap at company lunches. Week 1 - Wedding Week! My sister is getting married. Also, I found out yesterday that I am going to spend 3 of those days on-site with a customer, using equipment I've never used before. Fun times in WA! CF 2x that week Don't binge at the wedding. There will be prime rib and hard cider and cake. Week 2 - Training Week (in Indiana). The Mid West has always been a problem for me when I'm training. Don't eat crap; eat light. Run 1x+ Try a local coffee shop Week 3 - Support Week (at home) This might be a good week to try keto for the last push to having abs? Week 4 - 4th of July Week (at home) Don't binge on the 4th of July party THE CHECKLIST: Fill in weekly goals (Ideas are welcome!) Get my abs to show (photo evidence to be posted at 4th of July) Set date for hiking weekend Investigate Europe trip potential with M Set date for Olympic Peninsula weekend getaway Run 5 miles

Ha! What are the odds? I was going to challenge myself to a nice, cosy, solo adventure using my character sheet, and just happened to be planning to start it tomorrow. My boyfriend has just joined the rebellion and in solidarity (and because I've been needing a refresher anyway) I'm respawning from scratch. That's right - my stats are going back down to big fat zeroes. And that's pretty representative of how my health has been - until a week or two ago I was the heaviest I've ever been. Scary... it kinda snuck up on me. My big why: I want to be the most evolved version of myself. I used to base my big whys on appearance or feelings, but I think this one actually encompasses it. Like a pokemon, or a superhero, or something, I want to push myself to be as strong, as healthy, and as awesome as possible. Evolution doesn't happen overnight but bit by bit with slight mutations - as I add new habits, I'll mutate into the badass I think I am on the inside. Cleaning out the batcave has seen my mom and I get rid of all sugary food in the house. I've also held back on restocking the diet sodas in the fridge. I've been trying to drink only water, and I've been cooking all my meals mostly because I'm house sitting, home alone, in the middle of nowhere and I am still a bit scared of driving in this country (Mauritius) so I only really venture out when I run out of vegetables or feel like swimming in the ocean. Since my parents left last Saturday I have had only ONE meal I didn't cook myself! That's amazing; I was, previously, ordering takeout for lunch and dinner every day. Hence being the biggest I've ever been. I've also hired a personal trainer who comes to my house every week, makes me sweat buckets and pushes me further than I think I can go, and then I repeat the workout I do with him two more times before the next session. So, being a lowly level 0 once again, I'm focusing just on three goals: 1. Eat only food I cook myself. This will save me money and stop me from going to restaurants. It's also a fun challenge to make them as low carb as possible - I've recently discovered zoodles and am in love with them. 2. Work out 3 times a week, including the personal trainer session. The workouts include a lot of strength training, because I want to learn how to do it on my own with good form. We also do a lot of composite movements and bodyweight training. I also walk the dog every day (or rather, he walks me). 3. Read for at least 3 hrs a day. I review books over on my blog, and I've got such a massive backlog of books that they keep expiring, which means I have to buy them. So I'm trying to get through the 10 overdue books as quickly as possible, and then I need to get through all the non-expiring self-published books that nice authors have sent me. Eish. So, I absolutely HAVE to increase my reading time. No more TV! Oh, and although these goals are pretty basic, I definitely class myself as an adventurer because I love scuba diving, geocaching, and trying out new kinds of exercise. Next month I'll be heading to Dallas to visit my boyfriend where I aim to try as many new things as possible, including a burlesque class, a human-sized maze, a marching band show, and more. Here are some photos of previous adventures: In August I'm moving to China! Currently learning Mandarin in preparation. This is where I'll be living: Nerd stuff: I am a whovian, cross-stitcher, book worm, former mathlete, casual gamer and scifi nut. I like science, history and gadgetry. I'm in the academy, and am too active for my own good in the women's fb group. And this is the me I want to get back to (but with less mud): Allons-y! Additionally, I'm joining Sylvaa in the #LoveMe challenge.

Last challenge was my most successful so far, and I noticed how quickly I went from super productive to hardly productive when I let things go a little last week. Maybe I'll be a little more adventurous next time, but because it worked so well last time - and because I'm going to have a week of chaos (checking out Poland!) in the middle of this challenge that would normally throw me for a loop if I tried to be more ambitious - I'm going to follow the same method (with almost the same goals) this time around! That is, I have some framework goals: Open my planner, check it, and plan my day every morning. Every night, check my planner again, write down any tasks or other things I forgot to note down during the day, and think about my plan for the next day. Stop using the computer at 10 p.m. at the latest on weeknights (Sunday to Thursday nights). No bread or added sugar (honey and fruit are okay) until after work on weekdays. (This one won't apply while I'm in Poland.) The idea is that these framework goals will help me accomplish some/many/all of my bullet point goals. I'm mostly not being strict with myself about "do X activity Y times a week" or anything here - instead, being a little more deliberate about how I spend my time overall should naturally lead to accomplishing things. Here are my current bullet point goals (pretty much all of them repeats/continuations from last challenge): Complete another 30-day pushup challenge (currently primarily knee pushups). This challenge build-up is a little more intense than the previous one, so at some point I might have to either do some windowsill pushups as well or switch back to the previous challenge's structure. For now, though, let's see how this one goes! Currently on day 8. Continue running at least three miles three times a week (except for Poland) and start going to the more serious running group again. I tried the group out a couple months ago but couldn't keep up with them. Over the last several weeks I've been working on my stamina by increasing the distance until my first/only walking break and I'm currently up to 2.5 miles. Shortly after coming back from the trip, I'd like to do the whole three miles without any breaks, at which point I should feel comfortable trying that group again. Finish at least one book. Recently started a David Sedaris book - a quick, easy, fun read that shouldn't be too hard to finish over the next few weeks. Also started listening to the audiobook of The Goldfinch without knowing what it was about or how long it was. Turns out it's super long (34 hours!), so I can't promise I'll finish that one by the end of this challenge, but I'll do my best! Be reasonable about food. The fourth framework goal will help with this, and I'd like to continue making vegetable soup at least once a week. Already made broccoli soup this week! Finish a translation project for a friend. This is one of the goals I didn't make much progress on last time. Keep the house in a reasonably clean state. I'd like to get it pretty clean before we go on our trip so my boyfriend's mom doesn't feel like she needs to clean the place when she comes to take care of the cat. And then...ideally...keep it pretty clean when we're back! Be better about bureaucracy. Organize paperwork and stay on top of recurring and one-time deadlines. Organize a big event for my running group. Sigh. This one's not going to be easy - a lot of relying on other people and fidgeting nervously while I wait for them to get back to me. Let's go!

TL;DR - I travel for work around half of each month; keeping the workout schedule going is pretty decent to start things out, but it's the nutrition where I'm really seeking help. Frequent travelers, what do you do to keep on track both for exercise and for nutrition? Details: I am on the road a little less than half of the month, and during that time, I'm stuck in a hotel room. Thankfully, I am able to utilize the facility's exercise room as well as some TRX suspension straps that I have been bringing with me (as well as a water-filled portable kettlebell that I just acquired). My main area of struggle is when it comes to food. When I am home, I am able to prepare a week's worth of food on a Sunday and meet the ratios my trainer has suggested to me (40% protein, 40% fat, 20% carbs). When I travel, I am unable to do prep due to arrival time and long work days through the week. Thankfully, I am in a place that has a couple of stove top burners as well as a microwave and a full refrigerator so I at least have means of doing light cooking and storing it as well as storing almond/cashew/coconut milk and protein powders. At least I have access to proteins such as sardines and tuna as well as being able to cook some vegetables (raw produce gives me an allergic reaction, so salads are out of the question). I often use supplements to make up for the areas I miss due to some of these restrictions (e.g. nutritional shakes and some in pill form). Are there other frequent travelers out there who are part of this program who have been able to fit in good nutrition while away from home? Do you have any advice for someone with similar restrictions?

Placeholder at the moment, but there will be housework-related goals, some focus on positivity after a few months of being peeved at feeling fat and useless, loads of pictures of me jaunting around Thailand and preparation for doing so. SpecialSundae sparkles with positivity Look for something in every day that is positive and share it. Bounce with happiness when I can. Try to ignore the demons but share them to allow other people to help when it's bad. Say something positive about every workout. Do your accessory work (maximum two sessions compressed into one, which means two sessions a week at minimum, aim to do it after each actual training session but we all know that won't happen) and aim for progression. SpecialSundae sparkles with innovation Find a way to get the letter of authenticity for REPS registration. Plan out the first four weeks of the barbell training course Plan out social media engagement and announcements Plan out booking scheme SpecialSundae makes her house sparkle too Clean the kitchen and bathroom every weekend until I go away Hoover the living room and bedroom once a week Change the sheets once a week Do at least two loads of laundry a week Put away all laundry at the weekend SpecialSundae spreads some sparkle to her spouse Spend quality time with Grant Spend at least one night a week playing Marvel Superheroes with Grant until we go away Leave the phones in our room (or at least switched off) for at least one evening meal out of two whilst in Thailand Spend time with Grant planning a few excursions and pre-book as needed - thinking of doing a cycle tour in Bangkok and a visit to a Thai boxing match in Ao Nang In the meantime, here's my thought for the day from yesterday... Any time you feel strong, squat with someone who lifts triple what you do. You'll suddenly feel very weak and insignificant!

This challenge finds me on the road for five weeks of travel and adventure. Leaving Alaska, I'll visit Hawaii, Oregon and Texas, and at least one other undetermined mystery location after that. There could even be another epic road trip involved. Adapting and keeping up with a reasonably demanding workout schedule will be the focus of this challenge. I've learned a lot about how to do this already this year, and I'm excited to see what else I can discover. Run 100 miles. I'm including the zero week for this. I have a 10k race on the 16th, and should have about 70 miles by then. I'll ease up a bit after that, but should still get about 15 miles a week. Push, Pull, Sit 720 Push-ups 1200 Crunches 12 Pull-ups, opportunistically I can't blame it on seas or long work days this time, so I'm keeping the same goals as before. I'd like to keep up with the pull-ups, but I'll have to be creative as to where while I'm on the move. Could be fun, actually. Stretch 32 points total. I'm increasing this one a bit, and adding some foam roller work. This is an interesting development, since I left my foam roller on the boat – first goal, buy a new foam roller! 2 points for 30 min of yoga practice, 1 point for shorter or stretching only, 1 extra point for foam rollering (that's a word, right?). Strength 16 points total. I won't have predictable, if any, access to weights so this may also take some creativity, but I'm just starting to see and feel some results, so I want to try to keep it up. I'm traveling with my resistance bands, so I can at least do that. 2 points for 20 min of strength training, 1 point for a good-try effort. Side quests 1.) Last year, I logged miles in 9 states all year. I can beat that this year. I'm starting the challenge at 4 states so far. With a road trip likely, I can at least double that. 2.) For each state I visit, do something adventurous and fun that I haven't done before, or maybe just don't get to do very often.

New Quest List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ynwB0Zs2zcz-AWzSS-BWBdrqM7ifoh0GK3aVmx_iC4k/edit?usp=sharing *cough* Ignore the formatting nightmare. CATEGORY QUEST HEADING XP POSSIBLE XP EARNED PROGRESS DEADLINE REWARD PENALTY NOTES & BONUSES & PREREQUISITES CURRENT LEVEL 3979 12.5 0% PHYSICAL QUESTS 360 0 0% PHYS1 Reach all three of my weightlifting goals 10 PHYS1 Deadlift 100kg 30 PHYS1 Squat 80kg 30 PHYS1 Bench 50kg 30 PHYS2 Perform an unsupported handstand 20 Cool Party trick! http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/10/24/how-to-handstand-better-than-luke-skywalker/ - It has R2D2 in it, how could I not love this? PHYS2 Practice towards a handstand for 5 min each day for 3 months 10 PHYS2 Perform a 60 second wall plank 10 PHYS2 Perform a 60 second wall handstand 10 PHYS2 Perform a pirouette bail 5 PHYS3 Actively skate outdoors without falling over for 30 min 25 New skates! PHYS3 Skate for 30 mins once a week for 3 months 20 PHYS3 Practice stops for 5 minutes once a week for 3 months 10 PHYS3 Practice turns for 5 minutes once a week for 3 months 10 PHYS4 Have all 6 arrows score at a minimum distance of 20 metres 15 Combat arrows! PHYS4 Attend all Anealan archery training and IKACs for 4 months 40 PHYS5 Reach the top of a rock climbing wall 40 PHYS5 Attend and participate in 1 rock climbing session 20 PHYS5 Attend and participate in 5 rock climbing sessions 15 PHYS5 Attend and participate in 10 rock climbing sessions 10 MENTAL QUESTS 400 0 0% MEN1 Watch an episode in Korean and understand what is going on 30 Don't need subtitles, know what I'm actually singing! MEN1 Practice Korean for five minutes every day for 3 months 10 MEN1 Know how to write and speak the Hangeul alphabet 15 MEN1 Know 100 common words/phrases and how to count to 10 20 MEN1 Read a book in Korean aimed for teenagers or older 25 MEN1 Have a 10 minute conversation in Korean 30 MEN2 Be able to code my own website 25 Self-sufficient. Website. MEN2 Follow the Make a Website tutorial on Codecademy 15 MEN2 Follow the Build Your Own Webpage tutorial on Codecademy 15 MEN2 Register my domain 10 MEN3 Complete an embroidery sampler 35 Hands free hoop MEN3 Plan the layout 5 MEN3 Research and decide on stitches used 5 MEN3 Order/buy thread required 5 Linen w/ silk thread MEN4 Learn to play one song on the keyboard without having sheet music and lettering the keys 40 Fun sheet music? MEN4 Practice the keyboard for 15 minutes once a week for 6 months 15 MEN4 Practice the keyboard for 15 minutes twice a week for 6 months 15 MEN4 Know all 72 chords 15 MEN5 Make 100 glass beads 40 The beads MEN5 Take a class in glass bead making 20 MEN5 Buy all equipment for bead making 10 FUN QUESTS 100 0 0% FUN1 Complete a colouring-in book 25 Drawings to put on the fridge FUN2 Complete my childhood reading list (5 XP per book) 85 FUN3 Cycle around the whole of Rottnest 25 Birthday in Rottnest! Bonus points if I rollerskate? FUN4 Play Cards Against Humanity 50 times 25 The friendships won and lost FUN5 Go on a cruise (min one night) with my mother 50 Thinking moms 60th? 65th? WORK QUESTS 325 0 0% WORK1 Get an article/short story published in a magazine/e-zine 50 WORK1 Write an article/short story 10 WORK2 Publish a novel 100 WORK2 Write a novel 50 WORK3 Attend a writers conference 40 WORK4 Be earning enough money via writing to drop down to part time work 60 WORK5 Build my brand - have a website and social media accounts for my writing 15 ADVENTURE QUESTS 325 12.5 4% ADV1 Travel to a non-English speaking country by myself 75 ADV2 Visit Antarctica 75 ADV3 Go on an overnight/multi-day hiking trip 50 ADV4 Visit at least one cave in each Australian state/territory (8) 50 12.5 WA - 3 in Margaret River, NSW - Jacob Cave @ Jenolan ADV5 See the Northern Lights 75 COURAGE QUESTS 155 0 0% COU1 Go on a rollercoaster 20 COU2 Sit with new/different people at an SCA event. Converse with them 20 COU3 Perform at a burlesque show 40 COU3 Attend a burlesque course 15 COU4 Steward an SCA event 20 COU5 Sit for a boudoir/nude photoshoot 40 FREEDOM QUESTS 210 0 0% FREE1 Pay for housecleaning 15 FREE2 Have a commute of under 30 minutes 15 FREE3 Apart from story research, drop internet use to only 1 hr each weekday 30 FREE4 Own my own home 100 FREE5 Kon Mari all my possessions and contemplate all new ones 50 MASTER QUESTS 1694 15 1% MAS1 Be in a Marvel/DC episode/movie (or work on one) 100 MAS2 Design and build my dream home 100 MAS3 Meat Quest 594 6 MAS4 Wine Quest 800 9 Delicious wines MAS5 Have someone tell me I have changed/influenced their life for the better 100 GRATITUDE QUESTS 410 0 0% GRA1 Marshal 10 rapier, target archery & armoured lists 100 GRA1 Become an authorised target archery marshal 15 GRA1 Become an authorised rapier marshal 15 GRA1 Become an authorised armoured marshal 15 GRA2 Help a refugee 100 GRA3 Leave a $100 tip 15 GRA4 Leave 50 positive reviews 50 GRA5 Donate $10,000 total to Youth Focus 100 LEGACY QUESTS 600 0 0% LEG1 Donate to 10 Kickstarters that are successful 100 LEG2 Donate to 10 Science Experiments 100 LEG3 Mentor someone 50 LEG4 Teach 10 SCA classes 100 LEG5 Sell one million books 250 I wrote this for a page on my Blogger and thought I would cross post it over here for extra motivation and support. I decided to write this as a Quest for Life because for the past year I've been working on a 12 hour day 2 weeks on, 1 week off roster. It was very tiring and much of my week off was spent recuperating and not living. I was made redundant from that job a few days before Christmas so now that I've got lots of time, it's time to get back to living! Travel New Zealand Ireland Scotland Spain England Visit the 7 other Australian States and Territories Drive the Great Ocean Road (Australia) SCA Go to Pennsic Complete one SCA item a month Have some basic knowledge of the lives of my SCA persona's Make my wall tent functional Steward an event Enter 4 A&S competitions a year Make 20 glass beads Enter and finish an IRCC Health & Fitness Move to an 80/20 Paleo diet Go indoor rock climbing Deadlift 60kg Squat 60kg Bench Press 30kg Clean & Jerk 30kg Snatch 30kg Food Try: Snake Meat Crickets Horse Meat Camel Meat Beef Heart Writing Complete 2015 Book List reading Complete NaNoWriMo Complete outlines for 5 stories Complete the first draft for 1 story Misc Go away for a weekend and relax Complete my Diploma Find my cause Find my tribe Find 10 Geocaches Do 2 hikes in Perth

Had a friend show me a good way to keep yourself from getting bored while working out at home. Its so easy to not push yourself as you are not in that gym environment or in a competition or sport, so you need a way to keep things changing and keep holding yourself accountable. Wanted to start a topic where people can post ideas of home workouts and things to do while on the go. Planning a trip from here in Mexico down to Colombia and will be having to workout outside or with my BodyLastics. This is the workout my friend showed to me, which I tailored a bit to make it a real good pumping fat torching workout! Flip a deck of cards face down. Each card you flip you do that many repititions. 1st card - Squats ... 2nd card - Pushups ... 3rd card - Crunches. Repeat through the whole deck! Do it with speed to burn fat or only work one muscle group if you are targeting a muscle! Feel free to post more ideas!!!

Hello! So I would love to travel and do more, but I'm kinda poor-ish. So in an effort to save munnies and still travel, I joined couchsurfer.com. If you don't know what it is, it's a website where people open up their homes for people to come and stay while they are traveling, which I think is super cool. Let me say here that my father has instilled in me a healthy dose of paranoia. I don't usually trust strangers, and therefore go to certain lengths to make sure I am safe. I am traveling with my sister, so I'm not alone. I am a level 13 Warrior Monk with a black belt in Jujitsu (Sometimes my sensei gets really taken aback by how "lethal" I am (his words, not mine)). So in those respects I do feel more safe, and couch surfer does have policies and procedures to make sure people are safe. Do y'all have any tips or tricks to safe travel when staying with strangers? My first trip is to central Texas for Tough Mudder on May 20-22

Quest 0 - Hoard of the Dragon Queen I've been letting work get in the way of my workouts ... I'm frozen! (see how I made that work?) before week 1 I'm going to do at least 2 runs and a kettle bell workout! Quest 1 - The Rise of Tiamat Stretching! Everyday I'm going to do 10 minutes of stretching! A: 28 Days of stretching! (Wis +3) B: 20-27 Days of stretching! (Wis +2) F: <19 Days of stretching! Quest 2 - Princes of the Apocalypse Movement and mobility! 6 days a week I'm going to do some running/jogging. This could be long distance running + sprinting + hill work etc. A: 24 Days! (Dex +2, Con +2) B: 23-20 Days! (Dex+1 Con +1) F: <19 Days! Quest 3 - Out of the Abyss Tuesday+Thursday Kettlebell beast mode! A: 8 Days of Kettlebells (Str+3, Sta+2) B: 4-7 Days of Kettlebells (Str+2, Sta +2) F <3 Days of Kettlebells Quest 4 - Curse of Strahd I've been letting myself mope about and not be as social or out going as I should. Plus my photography has suffered from lack of doing it.