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They see you as small and helpless;They see you as just a childSurprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wildPrepare for your greatest moments;Prepare for your finest hourThe dream that you've always dreamed is suddenly about to flower MAIN QUEST: Prepare for the future! 2016 is going to be a crazy busy year in my professional life and I still want to accomplish a lot in my personal life, including becoming a true Triple Threat (be an acting/singing/dancing MASTER) and completing a sprint triathlon, all the while not backsliding on any of the progress I’ve made since starting my fitness journey. It's a lot to handle, but a future huntress needs to prepare to be prepared! QUEST 1: PRACTICE OUTSIDE OF CLASS [+3 DEX, +2 CHA] This quest that has Jaune written all over it: he goes to Beacon under false pretenses and has to work doubly hard outside of his classes just to keep up (though often with Pyrrha pushing him to do so). That said, he’s also an incredible dancer, as are the rest of Team JNPR. For me, I came into the acting game later in life than most people, and I have a lot of catching up to do especially in the dancing department (since I’m all about the musical theatre), which means I need to work on dancing outside of class so that I can be just as castable as anyone else. So, twice a week, I will work on my personal trouble spots from jazz and/or tap class on my own time. It will not have to be all at once if my schedule does not permit it, as long as each skill/move is touched upon on two separate days of the week. A = 2x/week | C = 1x/week | F = zilch Prerequisite: Attend a jazz or tap class. Caveats: Prerequisite is waived if I cannot get to a class due to scheduling conflicts, inclement weather, or health reasons. If I get injured, this quest will be replaced with a conditioning quest to encourage a speedy recovery, details to be determined if this happens. Bonus Opportunity! I can earn an extra $15 towards Japan spending money for every session I spend focusing on Latin-based dancing in order to prepare for Evita auditions/callbacks. QUEST 2: FIGHT OR FLIGHT [+2 STA] Sometimes, a huntress just needs to know when to run. Or swim. Or take some other mode of transportation out of a sticky situation, like, say, a bicycle if it happens to be available. And hey, sometimes, you just need to be adept at these things just to know how to survive when fighting Grimms. Since one of my big 2016 goals is to complete a sprint triathlon, and since biking and swimming are areas I’ve never really focused on, I need to start working on them now. So, twice a week, I will swim, bike, and/or run, BUT at least one of the sessions MUST be either swimming or biking. If I only run, I get docked a letter grade since I’m already a strong runner. Yes, races will count for running. A = 2x/week (swim/bike at least once) | B = 2x/week (running only) | C = 1x/week (swim/bike) | D = 1x/week (running only) | F = zilch Prerequisite: None. Caveats: If I get injured, hopefully I can still do one of these sports depending upon the injury, but if not, I will adjust accordingly or get a bye for the duration of the injury. If I get sick, I get a bye for the duration of the illness. Bonus Opportunities! I can earn an extra $50 if I manage to do all three sports during the course of the week. Also, if I bike outside on a real bike instead of a stationary bike, I will earn an extra $15 bonus for Japan. QUEST 3: EPIC FOOD BATTLE [+2 CON, +1 WIS] While Team RWBY and Team JNPR know how to fight the most epic food fight in the history of ever, that’s not quite what I mean with this quest. Rather, it’s the holiday season, and I have an extreme weakness for all of the foods this time of year (but let’s be fair: who doesn’t?). Now, I don’t want to restrict myself by any means, and so I have three situations in which to approach the temptation of yummy desserts and sweets so that I take everything in moderation: PARTIES: If a small plate is available, I am allowed only as many sweets/desserts that can fit on the plate without piling. Otherwise, I am only allowed to fill half the plate. THANKSGIVING/MOM’S BIRTHDAY: Bye. While I don’t tend to go crazy for these occasions, often just limiting myself to just one slice of pie or cake, I’m also giving myself permission not to worry about it, either. ALL ELSE (date nights, social outings, someone brings treats to work, etc): I am allowed the treat only if it fits within my macros/calories (i.e., I meet my protein minimum AND/OR it’s within my allowed caloric range) A = Followed the criteria | F = Did not follow the criteria Prerequisite: Calories must be logged every day. Caveats: If I break the rules, I must eat completely clean during the next 24 hours in order to not fail the quest, and I am only allowed this out once a week. Also, the prerequisite is waived on Thanksgiving. Bonus Opportunities! I can earn $10 per day that I eat at least 95g of protein (my estimated lean mass being 95lb). If my average weekly calorie count is within 50 of my current estimated maintenance, I will earn $25 extra for the week. LIFE QUEST 1: DON’T STOP, JUST SLOW DOWN [+1 CON] Blake and I have this tendency of overworking ourselves and not getting the rest we need. While I tend to busy myself with things I enjoy versus, say, trying to stop villains from succeeding in their goals, I still need to take some time to myself and just relax. So, 5x/week, I will dedicate at least 30 minutes at home to doing nothing. What this means is for 30 minutes a day, I’m not on my cell phone (unless I’m listening to music, and this music cannot be anything I’m working on for auditions and what not, or I’m doing guided meditations), I’m not on the computer (unless, again, I’m doing guided meditations), and I’m not doing any work at all whatsoever. If tea is required to help me relax, tea is allowed. It’s about stilling my mind, letting go of my obligations and stress, and just relaxing. A = 5x/week | B = 4x/week | C = 2-3x/week | D = 1x/week | F = zilch Prerequisite: None. Caveats: Watching a movie or TV show or Netflix can count as long as I’m doing literally nothing else (not even eating dinner) but watching. Ideally, I’d rather not have to count it, but just sitting down and watching something can be enough of a chore for me because I feel like I ought to be doing something, anything else. ;;; Bonus Opportunity? Nope. I think having one would defeat the purpose. LIFE QUEST 2: DICHOTOMY OF REN AND NORA [+2 WIS, +2 CHA] Ren and Nora are polar opposites and yet they’re best friends. Ren is the studious, mature, adulting type, and Nora is the fun-loving, hyper type, and they balance each other out perfectly. Because I do need to adult better, but also since I don’t want to risk giving up the things I love, I decided to do a grab bag redux for my life quest with the intention of maintaining a semblance of balance. So below are the rules of this little grab-bag mini: Each task is worth 5 points. Most tasks have an attached bonus. This is my ideal, If-I-had-Hermione’s-Time-Turner-Or-At-The-Very-Least-A-Clone way of living. Obviously, it’s crazy to expect to get more than one of these bonuses in any given week, but hey, that’s why it’s a bonus! No penalties, no stress if I don't accomplish them. And if I do, permission to pull from my savings account for Japan! My minimum goal is 400 points by the end of the challenge. This is basically saying that I’ll complete two tasks every day with some leeway in case of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Since the idea is balance, my adulting and my extracurricular tasks need to be as close to 50/50 as possible by the end of the challenge. With a 400 point goal, that means 200 points need to be for adulting and 200 points need to be for fun. Bonus opportunities will be available if one category skyrockets past the other, but ideally I shouldn’t need it. Grading will be based on a percentage scale of how much of the goal points I earned (with a boost if I need to increase the minimum) and how close to 50/50 I balance out adulting and extracurricular. Prerequisite: Budget must be updated by Monday morning. Caveats: None. Bonus Opportunity! I can earn $50 towards Japan for every increase in the goal I need to do. See each individual task for other possible bonuses. IN SUMMARY: Work on dance basics 2x/week Swim or bike or run 2x/week Follow holiday-food eating criteria Relax for 30min 5x/week Grab bag!WEEKLY RECAPS Day Zero | Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Week Six | Challenge Complete! REWARDS (non-stacking) I'll be going to Japan at the end of December through mid-January, and Japan is expensive, so this is the money I'm going to allow myself to withdraw from personal savings. Non-stacking, because let's not go insane here! This is the money for food and shopping and sightseeing adventures. I'm already budgeting for travel and hotel costs. This will be on top of the money I allot myself via bonus money in the above quests. A-average = $500 towards Japan spending money B-average = $400 towards Japan spending money C-average = $300 towards Japan spending money Starting Measurements Waist @ narrowest: 27" Waist @ navel: 30.25" Hips: 37.5" Thigh: 21.75" Calf: 14.25" Est bf%: 21.5% Weight: 121.8lb

There’s a cliché about 2 steps forward and 1 step back. My friends, I am that cliché. 13 weeks of solid workouts derailed by a bout of the blues and then holiday mayhem. But, every day is fresh with no mistakes in it (thanks Anne of Green Gables!). So today is a new day. This year is a new year. And this is the beginning of a brand new 6 Week Challenge. Scouts, I hope you'll have me along for the journey! Preface: I’m in the process of discerning whether I want to stay in my job beyond the next year and a half. I’m also in the painful process of going through therapy to deal with some deep-rooted trust issues (yay being a well-adjusted adult!). I suspect these will impact my workout motivation. So, yeah, that’s a thing. Better to lay the cards out on the table now, then fill y'all in later. Main Quests: Brekke hits the trails: 2+ mile runs 3x a week +2 STA, + 2 DEX My goal is to race a triathlon this June. If I’m going to be serious about that, then I must start training for it now. Since I need to work on my bike (and I’m a bit short of the $$ to fix it up – Christmas was expensive!) I’m going to focus my first round of training on getting a solid run routine. 18/18 = A, 15/18 = B, 12/18 = C, >12/18 = Fail Brekke stays strong: 2 strength routines each week +2 STR I want to maintain my muscle mass while upping my running. However, I know that working out every day will completely undo me. So, 2 strength routines of my choosing – whether free weights at the gym or bodyweight workouts at home – will qualify. 12/12 = A, 10/12 = B, 8/12 = C, >8/12 = F Brekke drinks up: water tracking + 2 CON I’m fairly solid about meal prep (except for when I get super busy/am not at home). So, for this challenge, I want to focus on my water intake. I think that I might be mildly dehydrated on a regular basis. So I’m going to try and get my recommended 9 cups (2.2 liters) of water a day (this is from the Mayo Clinic’s recommendation for a healthy woman). I won’t count my morning coffee or any alcohol since those are both diuretics. But water or tea will all count toward the goal. We’ll see how that goes. 39/42 on target = A, 34/42 = B, 30/42 = C, >30/42 = F Side Quests: Brekke Speaks Up: Practice my Spanish. +1 WIS I want to have a strong conversational level of Spanish by this summer. So, through regular flash card practice and weekly “Spanish sessions†with friends I hope to make significant progress. My benchmarks for this are: Weekly speaking sessions. They can be in-person or through the italki language exchange website (it’s pretty cool!). Pass/Fail Brekke Saves Up: Keep a budget log. + 1 WIS Christmas was damn expensive. I spent a bit more than I intended. SO, in order to reign in the spending pattern and pay off my flights back home, I am going t keep a vigilant budget log. Although I only intended to track for the month of January, it’ll probably good to track for February as well. If I stay within (ideally under) budget, then I pass. Otherwise, I fail, in more ways than one!! Pass/Fail I’m continuing my quest to get to Rivendell, even though it’ the new year. I’m happy to have a long term goal to keep working toward. And I’m going to continue finding me time regularly – which will be mostly though journaling and therapy. Ultimately, I want to be healthy and happy. I want to have the ability – physically, emotionally, financially – to live a life of joy and adventure. I want to be able to share my love and not feel trapped by my physical capabilities, my emotional baggage, or my finances. I want to live in freedom. That’s the BIG GOAL. This Challenge is one step in that direction. Let’s Do This, Team!

Well here it goes, I am about to embark on my first six week challenge. I think with the other changes that are going on in my life right now, it is time to actually commit to a challenge. My goals are as follows. 1. Complete the six week Triathlon training from http://www.trifuel.com/training/triathlon-training/triathlon-training-program-for-beginners#.Uav9oW_n-M8 (3 STA, 2 CON) 2. Follow whole30 for the six weeks (5 CON) 3. Weigh myself on 6/3 and don't step foot on the scale again until 7/14. This way I am not driven by the scale, but rather how I am feeling as a result of the lifestyle changes. (2 WIS) 4. Apply for college graduation. (3 WIS) My intention is to eventually work my way towards being a scout and participating in my first full Tri. But seeing as how I am starting this feat now, it looks like I won't be able to participate in my first organized one until next spring. But until I am able to do that, I am looking forward to starting on this road to better health as an adventurer. Cheers