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Let’s keep this ball rollin'... Okay, this is going to be my second six-week challenge, and I’m super pumped for this one. I had a lot of trouble keeping up last time, so this time around I’m hoping I’ll have a bit of experience under my belt so I know what I’m going into. Main Quest: Okay, so in my previous challenge my goal was to simply lay down a foundation. It didn’t go as well as I would’ve liked, but I still made a great deal of progress than the lazy, sedentary lifestyle I had before. So now I want to keep up my momentum and work harder, longer and more effectively. Now that I’ve seen just how much my body and I are capable of, I’m more motivated than ever to improve more and more, and keep applying Newton’s First Law. This is the first time I’m incorporating ‘stats’ into my challenge, and I’m new to the whole ‘attributes’ system (for Nerd Fitness at least!), so I’m just ball-parking these. If they seem too high, someone let me know and I’ll modify them. 1) Find a bodyweight exercise routine that works, and do it Monday-Wednesday-Friday. I still haven’t found one that will suit me perfectly, but I’m going through a variety of different bodyweight exercises that will hopefully help me build some muscle and get into the habit of exercising on a daily basis. Right now I’ve also incorporated splitting wood with a 16-pound maul for some arm and core exercise, and that’s a load of fun. I love useful exercises like that. If anyone has any suggestions for fun or ‘useful’ bodyweight exercises, I’d love to hear them. (Reward: +2 STR, +2 STA) 2) Learn at least three simple, healthy recipes. I’m a terrible cook; I’ll be the first one to admit it. But I really want to get better! I want to learn to create simple, healthy meals for myself, so I don’t have to always rely on other people or boxed junk. My ‘nutrition’ goal for this challenge, then, not only to learn the recipes, but actually prepare and consume them several times over the weeks ahead. (Reward: +2 CON) 3) Lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks. At the moment I weigh 183.2 pounds. At the rate I anticipate I’ll be losing weight by sticking with the two other goals, I’m hoping I’ll be losing 2 pounds per week, maybe even more. I’m trying to limit my calorie intake to around 1450 calories, and keeping up with my bodyweight exercises, so I’m hoping that it will help with losing that amount of weight in that short of time. (Reward: +2 CON, +2 STA) 100% Completion (with Life Quest) = +4 CON, +4 STA, +2 STR, +2 WIS Life Quest Finish my novel. November is National Novel Writing Month, where you are tasked with writing 50,000 words in 30 days. This equates to 1,667 words per day, which is a pretty sizable chunk of text. I actually won the challenge back in 2010, but I failed miserably in 2011/12. This time I think I've got a pretty good idea, but I’m already behind on my word count. It’s my goal to catch up and finish before the end of November. After it’s over, I’ll come up with a new Life Quest to do while finishing the rest of the six-week challenge. (Reward: +2 WIS)

Alright, this is it. This is the one. No more excuses. Hi. This is me. (Warning: Shirtless chubby/fat 20-year-old) Looking at those pictures is painful. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not in the best shape in the world. Certainly not the worst, but definitely not where I need or want to be. At twenty years old, I'm ashamed of my body. That's enough reason for me to want to change. Main Quest Over the next six weeks I am going to build a strong foundation for better physical health. At the moment I don’t have much going for me physically. I'm incredibly weak for my age. And while I’m trying to improve my diet, I’m not as consistent as I’d like to be. With that in mind, here are the steps I want to take: No more sugary drinks. My liquid intake will be restricted to straight water, unsweetened tea or sugar-free flavored water packs. Start a bodyweight exercise routine. I don’t really have a whole lot going on in the upper-body department (as you can see), so I think it’s time to finally start incorporating some upper-body workouts. I haven't decided what my routine will be yet, but I'll keep everyone posted on my progress. Keep up with my cardio. At the moment I try to run at least three times per week. I'm usually pretty good about keeping with my schedule, but I'll often find myself slipping up and not going here and there. I want to stick with it and try to build my endurance. Right now I'm using the Zombies, Run! app on my phone to track my progress, and use it as a motivator.Life Quest It took a lot of thinking, as there are so many aspects of my life itself that I want to improve, but I finally settled on something. Over the next six weeks, I want to read--and write about--at least five non-fiction books. I've only really just began seriously delving into non-fiction, and I have a whole stack of books that I’d like to read over the course of the next six weeks, starting with Fabric of Freedom by Esmond Wright. I feel non-fiction will help me broaden my horizons and help me finally delve deeper into things I've always been interested in. Motivation I’m doing this because I want a better tomorrow. I'm always the guy that looks forward to the future, who dreams about all the possibilities life can throw at me. And I want a tomorrow where I can look into the mirror at the end of the night and say 'yes, today I worked hard, learned something I didn't know before, and did something to benefit my future.' I’d be lying if I said I’m not doing this for vanity’s sake too. I want to look good for other people, and I want to feel and know that I look good. I’d like to be able to fit into those clothes I like, and wear them well enough to be noticed.