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February is my least favourite month. I'm usually pretty SAD from the lack of sunlight, the end of Winter in the great white North is no where in sight, and I'm packing on the Winter pudge. WELL NOT THIS YEAR, WINTER! This year, I am stronger and smarter than Winter. This year, I fuel my body, I build muscle and I supplement. This year, I come out of Winter fitter, leaner and wiser than I went in to it. THIS is my year. Keep Calm, Keto On. January's adventures in ketosis were very successful, and I'm not changing much here. I finally found something that works for me, isn't torture-some to keep up, and makes me feel energetic! GOAL ONE: Calories around 1350. Carbs less than 20g Protein between 60-100g Fats less than 120g One point per day per macro hit. A : 105pts B : 95 pts C : 85pts D : 75pts F : 74 pts or less GOAL TWO: Go to kettlebell class. My general goal is 3x per week, but that's lofty. They are very high intensity classes, and if I average around 2.5 classes per week, I'm pretty okay with that. In pursuit of that, I'm going to give myself both a realistic goal and a stretch goal. A+SUPERSTAR: 14 classes A : 12 classes B : 10 classes C : 8 classes D : 6 classes F : 5 or fewer * Prize for A+SUPERSTAR status = fancy-ass dinner (I'm thinking Ribeye neptune, asparagus, wine) and date night in with the hubs. GOAL THREE: Learn some Spanish! We're going to Mexico at the end of March, and I'm trying to brush up on my Spanish using duolingo. I took a year of college Spanish many many moons ago, so I have a but of a foundation. Goal is to earn 30 points in Duolingo every single day. I'm also giving myself a stretch goal on this one. A+SUPERSTAR: 1750pts A : 35 days of 30+pts B : 30 days of 30+pts C : 25 days of 30+pts D : 20 days of 30+pts F : 19 days or fewer * Prize for A+SUPERSTAR status = feeling confident enough to actually try to SPEAK Spanish in Mexico. Maybe some tangible prize TBD. BONUS GOAL: Take your vitamins! I supplement Vit D and Magnesium, and it has made a HUGE difference in my mood! But I forget often. Pretty straightforward. A : 35pts B : 30pts C : 25pts D : 20pts F : 19 pts or less

I've been struggling to be okay lately. I've been under a lot of stress and struggling with anxiety and depression, but I've been trying to learn about myself and what makes me happy and makes me feel worthwhile. I'm going to try and keep it simple, and remind myself that the goal isn't weight loss, it's just trying to feel okay. I want this challenge to be very, very easy to stick with, so all the active pieces combined are going to take 1 hour or less per day. Excluding sleeping, because that would be crazy. Main Quest: Reduce anxiety and depression. Learn what causes these. Acknowledge that some things in my life are stressful and that's okay. Goal 1: Quality Alone Time. Reason: I'm an introvert. I like doing things by myself and rarely make time to just be by myself, especially with a partner who likes to spend almost all their free time with me. I'm much happier when I make time for productive alone time. Details: 30 minutes or more per day. Should be something that I want to do that I really find satisfying, and is in no way social. So reading, meditating, painting, or playing guitar would count. Browsing the forums would not, and generally netflix/youtube/reddit/imgur would not; I already do 30 minutes per day of this and it doesn't make me any happier. Strategy: Spend the first 30 minutes of the day by myself. Get a comfortable chair in my home office, shut the door, maybe get a "do not disturb" sign. This is my me time. Goal 2: Enough movement, enough rest. Reason: Exercise is a mood booster. And if I have exercised today, at least I have done something worthwhile. I get sad when I get sleepy. I also find it difficult to accomplish the simplest things when I'm tired. Details: Any exercise daily, 8 hours of sleep daily. I would like to keep working on my C25K training, but I'm not going to be hard on myself if it doesn't happen. I just need to do something, whether it's a brisk walk or a short dance session or a few minutes hula hooping. Strategy: Set gentle alarms for when it is time to exercise and when it's time to start going to bed. Goal 3: Put the right things in your body. Reason: Severe vitamin D deficiency. Alcohol exacerbates my depression. Caffeine exacerbates my anxiety. It was a huge eye-opener when I started tracking my mood and realized 75% of my panic attacks happened within 2 hours of heavy caffeine consumption. Details: Take daily vitamin D supplements; no alcohol; cut down to 1 cup of tea a day. I had been drinking one or more alcoholic drinks per day, along with a quad shot or more of espresso every morning. Strategy: Have vitamins every day first thing when I get up, since I'm always at home and have access in the morning. Tell your friends and family and partner you're abstaining from alcohol and caffeine for the month and ask them to help you stay on track. Other stuff that I have no choice but to do: -Taxes (come on Grizzy, you can do it, you only have to bring two forms to an office and then just wait while a guy does some stuff on a computer...) -Moving (I'm buying a house. Assuming nothing goes wrong, which I always assume things WILL go wrong which causes me to be anxious, we're closing on the 15th and ending our lease on the 30th. So I have to do all the packing and activating utilities and fixing a bunch of stuff and aaaahhhahahahhhhh *cries*.) -Put in consistent effort at work (I got moved off of a project I disliked for under-performing. My boss made it seem like not a big deal, but I feel like my ass is on the line and I have to prove myself on my next project.) Sample Daily Schedule: 7 AM: Wake up, spend 30 minutes reading, painting, or meditating. 7:30: Do 10 minutes of hula hooping, a walk around the block, or at least 1 set of some weight lifting. Maybe more if I'm feeling ambitious. 7:40: A simple breakfast of cheerios, yogurt, fruit or a green smoothie. One cup of tea if I'm feeling really out of it. 8:00: Shower, dress, gather lunch & work stuff. Maybe read some more if I'm still waiting for my partner to be ready. 8:45 (at latest): Leave for work. 9:00-5:00: Working 5:00: Leave from work 5:15: Make dinner or clean stuff or relax while partner makes dinner. 6:00: Eating time. 6:45-9:00: I don't really know what I usually do with all this free time but I can tell you that I'm great at wasting it. 9:00: Get ready for bed, drink some water, read some more, sleeeeeeeeeep. Here's to keeping my head above water this month! I would drink to that, but you know, goal 3...

I've been struggling to be okay lately. I've been under a lot of stress and struggling with anxiety and depression, but I've been trying to learn about myself and what makes me happy and makes me feel worthwhile. I'm going to try and keep it simple, and remind myself that the goal isn't weight loss, it's just trying to feel okay. I want this challenge to be very, very easy to stick with, so all the active pieces combined are going to take 1 hour or less per day. Excluding sleeping, because that would be crazy. Main Quest: Reduce anxiety and depression. Learn what causes these. Acknowledge that some things in my life are stressful and that's okay. Goal 1: 30 minutes quality alone time daily. Should be something that I want to do that I really find satisfying, and is in no way social. So reading, meditating, painting, or playing guitar would count. Browsing the forums would not, and generally netflix/youtube/reddit/imgur would not; I already do 30 minutes per day of this and it doesn't make me any happier. Reason: I'm an introvert. I like doing things by myself and rarely make time to just be by myself, especially with a partner who likes to spend almost all their free time with me. I'm much happier when I make time for productive alone time. Goal 2: Any physical activity daily. I would like to keep working on my C25K training, but I'm not going to be hard on myself if it doesn't happen. I just need to do something, whether it's a brisk walk or a short dance session or a few minutes hula hooping. Reason: Exercise is a mood booster. And if I have exercised today, at least I have done something worthwhile. Goal 3: Take your darn vitamins. Have them every day with dinner. Keep a stash in your purse so you have them when you go out to eat. Set an alarm reminder in case you forget. Reason: Severe vitamin D deficiency. It can exacerbate depression and worsen my immune system. Goal 4: No alcohol, low caffeine. Tell your friends and family and partner you're abstaining for the month and ask them to help you stay on track. Reason: Alcohol exacerbates my depression. Caffeine exacerbates my anxiety. It was a huge eye-opener when I started tracking my mood and realized 75% of my panic attacks happened within 2 hours of heavy caffeine consumption. Goal 5: Sleep 8 hours a night. I should be in bed, lights out by 10 on weeknights. Since I'm often out late on Friday, I should avoid scheduling things for Saturday mornings. I need to try and force myself to go back to bed when I wake up after 6 hours on weekend days. Reason: I get sad when I get sleepy. I also find it difficult to accomplish the simplest things when I'm tired. Other stuff that I have no choice but to do: -Taxes (come on Grizzy, you can do it, you only have to bring two forms to an office and then just wait while a guy does some stuff on a computer...) -Moving (I'm buying a house. Assuming nothing goes wrong, which I always assume things WILL go wrong which causes me to be anxious, we're closing on the 15th and ending our lease on the 30th. So I have to do all the packing and activating utilities and fixing a bunch of stuff and aaaahhhahahahhhhh *cries*.) -Put in consistent effort at work (I got moved off of a project I disliked for under-performing. My boss made it seem like not a big deal, but I feel like my ass is on the line and I have to prove myself on my next project.) Here's to keeping my head above water this month! I would drink to that, but you know, goal 4...

Hi everyone! The vitamins I'm using are "opti-men", I have two questions: -Should I take them one per meal or is it ok to have them all at the same meal? The daily dose is 3. -Should I swallow them whole with water, or is it better to cut them in two or even crush them? I assume the same would apply to all brands of multivitamins. On a side note is opti-men a good brand? If not, what's a better alternative?

A few years ago I found out the surprising fact that fruit juice has as much sugar as fizzy pop, and is actually unhealthy. source. Since then I have just been drinking water as I love the taste and find it more refreshing than any other drink. However, over the past few days I have been considering starting to drink fruit juice again, but in moderation, like a glass a day.( I don't eat any fruit because I'm not really a big fan and whenever I buy it it ends up going off and I throw it away. I only eat 3 times a day and don't really snack so I never think to go and eat some fruit. I try and eat plenty of veg with my afternoon and evening meal however. If I drink a glass a day, would this be an okay way to get some of the nutrition I am missing by not eating fruit? This would be purely for health reasons as I don't find it any nicer than water, so would it be worth it? I'm underweight and trying to put on lean muscle mass. Obliviously I'm trying to eat as much protein as I can but it's difficult as meat is so filling (and expensive). I also struggle to reach my daily 2200 calorie goal, so would this be a good way to give it a boost?

Ok, so the last few months have been interesting. First off there was CampNF. Seriously some of the best fun I have ever had. I'm going next year, don't care how it happens. Work decided I was needed to go share my awesomeness and train another facility for 4 weeks. This was at the same time as camp and a family wedding I was participating in. HOLY BUSY BATMAN. That was a lot of flights and packing/unpacking and just generally no time for being at home. I'm happy to be home, I'm happy to be back on my normal schedule, and I'm super excited to start a new challenge. Bring it on. I just celebrated my 30th birthday. This did NOT get me down. In fact I think I feel better now than when I was 25. I know I am happier! In fact I might be annoyingly happy right now, people are noticing my sunny outlook. Life is good! As far as what I am challenging myself with, I am still working out the details. I want to make this challenge about new habits. I am still sticking to my no sugar in my coffee habit from a previous challenge. Going about 8 months on that one and still going strong. I know I can make changes if I just work them out in baby steps. I want to tackle the habit of taking my vitamins every day. Krill oil makes my joints happy and I need to make it a daily thing. I drink plenty of water in the summer when it's hot, but now that its cooling down, I am going to have to be more mindful. I am excited about getting my batcave into working order. I will think about what I want to change and how I can track those changes and make them a part of the challenge. No more sitting at my desk in front of the comp. The filing I am putting off needs to be done and that file box must come off my desk...I hate the clutter. I am annoyed with my current gym and the price and the people and the equipment and the group of stay at home moms that invades at the same time I like to go and stand around and are obnoxious and talk about their kids while they lift tiny weights and do excessive cardio and are just generally in everyone's way. All in all, we need to see other people. There are two new Crossfit operations that have opened in the last 6 months both within a ridiculously easy distance. I would love to get back into Crossfit. I will be trying them out and seeing which is the best fit for my schedule and personality. The only thing about my gym I will miss is the badass guy who comes in all quiet, lifts like a beast and then does pull ups with a 50lb plate hanging from his waist. That man is my hero. I would high five him, but I fear it would break his concentration. The high five is implied! I will work out the details on these goals and see what specs I can include over the next few days. A detailed update and outline of my challenge will follow. EXCITED!!

Charlie could barely believe that she had made it through initiation. But here she was, body cleansed and sitting before her tribe's elders, awaiting her next quest. It had been a long road to get here and she couldn't be proudest of herself. Not many pups got past initiation, and she herself had failed once before. Yet here she was, finally a junior member of the tribe and able to take on quests and, eventually, choose a path. "Charlie." The chieftainess began, wise yellow eyes clouded with age and cataracts trained on the newest member of her tribe. "You have passed initiation, but your biggest trials lay ahead of you, not behind. Your first challenge as an adult will be simple, but sometimes the simplest of challenges are the hardest to overcome." She gestured to a Lycan man standing behind her, who brought forward a large, laqured box inlaid with intricate designs of the tribe in abalone shell and saltwater pearl. He opened the box to reveal three symbolic items. A small weight, a miniature herbal potion, and a bit of gum from a rubber tree. The chieftainess took out the first of the items, the weight small enough for a pixie to use. "This weight symbolizes the strength you will need to carry duty, honor, and tradition with you through your journey. Take it, it will remind you to test your strength often, for you will need it." Next she picked up the potion. "There are many things your body needs that it does not get from your current diet, and if you don't get these nutrients, your body will whither and perish. This potion is to remind you to care for your body, as it is your vessel for the divine and the only one you have. Take it to remind yourself that sometimes you must go out of your way to get what you need." And finally, the third item was drawn from the box, the stretchy band of rubber sap. "Flexibility in both body and mind is perhaps the most important of traits, youngling. If one cannot bend, one will break. Lycans do not break, Charlie, and you must not break. This sap will stretch and bend, and even the strongest and most persistent would have.difficulty breaking it. Let it remind you to bend and stretch, to take life as it comes and to not stick too hard to tradition or duty that you break." Charlie took the items and bowed deeply to the chieftainess, slipping each item onto her necklace, where the members of her tribe kept such reminders of their quests and journeys. She thanked the old woman and took her leave to reflect on the road ahead of her.