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Man already this year is passing by fast! We have another awesome challenge coming up! I am BlackTezca, GIF queen extraordinaire and I had a rough last year. You can find all my lovely details from when I first arrived in space within From Lurker to (Newb) Rebel! I have also been training for galactic defending in BlackTezca's Daily Battle Towards A Much Better Year and started making my progress to recover from my Eclipse moment in BlackTezca's 15th Trial: An Artsy Geeky Amazon Survives Her Eclipse. That was a hard recent moment in my life that has not only left some scars, but could have also awakened from inner power to attune myself with an awesome new force for protection of the Universe. Out of the trash and into the awesome! Of course I can't do this alone! I have to build up a few friends to battle along side me and support me as I get stronger, more rested, more social and just all in all more awesome! Awesome enough to take on the Galra empire and prevent tyranny from ruling over the universe! I need to become a firm warrior fit with creativity as well! Not only will I be able to defend the Universe this way but it'll bring me closer to my one true goal...!! My Main Quest to be as POWERFUL and BATTLE READY as Wonder Woman Without further ado, let's see my new awesome quests for January 2017! Note that most of these are familiar, but this is to get back into the habit and get back into the Rebellion! It's always good to revisit the basics and what made things so great the first time around :D. Keith is hotblooded fighter with strength and agility to boot! Details: The Red Lion is perfect for this workout quest! This will account for any workouts I do! But not yoga or just walking anymore, pure workouts (which I did last challenge so building up here). Hoping to get in some nice Kickboxing time as well included here which will be awesome! Note that thanks to a trip coming up, skiing will be part of the package too! Contingencies: Sickness and travel pretty much. However considering the flexibility here, I should be able to do something! Walking, yoga, etc! Tracking: I'll be tracking the workouts using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) and this lovely thread will be updated as well. Grading: A for workout (Kickboxing and Muay Thai included) 4 to 5 times a week - 25 pts ( 1 Sta 2 Dex 2 Str ) B for workout (Kickboxing and Muay Thai included) out 2 to 3 times a week - 20 pts ( 1 Dex 1 Str ) F for all else Hunk knows how to eat to be the post heavy support he can be! Details: Time to limit sugar now and try to keep up my protein! This maybe a bit of a challenge considering that this is February AND my birthday is coming up this month too, but Hunk is reliable and sturdy; he can help me stay the course of caution with foods! I have hope! Contingencies: Oh boy! Getting back to eating 100g of protein and trying to limit sugar will be HARD this challenge: I have a break coming up later in the month (birthday trip to Breckenridge and Valentines). I'm not gonna go easy on myself this first week (Valentines day) but I may go easier on myself during the Birthday week! We'll see how it goes! Tracking: I'll be tracking the stretching sessions using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) with extra accountability done here. Grading: A for 100 g of protein and less than daily allowed sugar 5 to 6 times a week - 25 exp ( 3 Con ) B or 100 g of protein and less than daily allowed sugar 3 to 4 times a week - 20 exp ( 2 Con ) C or 100 g of protein and less than daily allowed sugar 2 times a week - 15 exp ( 1 Con ) F for all else Lance is one social butterfly of a sharpshooter! Details: I need to comment on the forums! I did not do so at all last challenge and I feel like I am out of place in the forums due to this! It's time to come back and leave gifs EVERYWHERE!! ALL THE GIFS FOR ALL MY FRIENDS!!! Or at least a lovely comment! I will be here for you my friends! I promise!! Contingencies: If I lack internet somewhere like on my vacation, that would be the only contingency. I may not even include the days I'm out since it's somewhat between weeks. We'll see!Tracking: Tracking to be done here! On the forums where I need to comment!Grading: A for commenting at least once on a buddy's challenge 4 to 5 days a week! - 15 exp ( 2 Cha ) B for commenting at least once on a buddy's challenge 2 to 3 days a week! - 10 exp ( 1 Cha ) F for all else Pidge is a gadgeteering hacking genius with a penchant for creativity! Details: Time to keep this up! Did a lot of model painting last challenge and while that will still be the case, I want to do some digital art again too! Maybe I need to start doing those short portraits I did during October before disaster struck...hmm let me consider that with at least doing sketches too! Need to get my muse back in gear! Contingencies: The usual! Friends being in town, going on possible trips else where, etc. Need to focus on painting! Tracking: I have an art Tumblr and I also have DeviantArt (WATCH ME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY). I shall use those and this thread to keep track. Grading: A for Arting (model painting mostly) at least 30 minutes 4 to 5 days a week - 20 exp ( 2 Wis 1 Cha )B for Arting (model painting mostly) at least 30 minutes 2 to 3 days a week - 15 exp ( 1 Wis 1 Cha) F for all else Shiro has had it rough and really needs to recover! Details: I have been working a lot...my back is sore. I haven't been doing too well with dealing with stress and just letting myself stop working and just go home. I need to focus on doing some relaxing actions. Stretch, leave work as soon as I have my eight hours (and not work over weekends), taking a bath, talking a walk, these will count for lovely relaxation actions. Contingencies: None! Just take a bloody break! Tracking: I will be using this thread for tracking my relaxation actions! Woo!!Grading: A for relaxation actions 14 to 15 days this challenge (work days!) - 20 exp ( 1 Wis 1 Con )B for relaxation actions 12 to 13 days this challenge (work days!) - 15 exp ( 1 Wis ) F for all else The quests are set! Let's see what my current measurements are for this challenge! Starting Measurements: Date: 02/13/2017 @ 7:00 am Weight: 155.6 ***Body Fat***: 26 Waist : 26 Waist @ Navel:27 Hips: 39 Neck: 12 Chest: 33 Left Bicep: 11 Right Thigh: 18.5 Wrist: 5.5 Forearm: 9 Not bad! A slight improvement over last challenge, even with how lazy I was this past week! With that's, let go defend the Universe! Time to form VOLTRON!! *** ***Awesome Summaries Index*** Week 1 Summary Week 2 Summary Week 3 Summary Week 4 Summary Challenge Summary

This has been the story of my life for the past 6 months... So my life has been a bit hectic. Unemployment, lots of interviews, getting injured, suddenly losing a roommate, losing unemployment insurance, finding a roommate.... I'm really in need of having some stability in my life. Things aren't looking up for the next month, unfortunately, so I need to work at making my own stability. Because as today has been going, the universe is just going to keep lobbing shit at me. 1) Python, 10 minutes a day: I finished my Automate the Boring Stuff python course that @The Most Loathed had pointed out to me a while back the other day. I feel like I can at least look at Python code and understand what it is aiming to do, but not confident enough that I can actually use the code. So I dropped $15 on another udemy course that's a more project based thing, and want to start working my way through that. The 10 minutes is a minimum goal, and I suspect that when I set up I'll do much more coding/learning than that. But figuring it's better this way to keep it small and easily movable in my schedule. Okay, it's not the gif I had imagined using, but Hunk getting eaten still relates to food 2) All about the Food: Okay, this is my most.... questionable goal. I've been eating pretty regularly 2800 calories a day, regardless of workouts. Little more on lifting days, little less on aikido. I'm being pretty stable at 211 pounds, and my gut measurement is also fairly stable. I'm currently torn on if I'm going to be doing a mini cut this challenge. Just two weeks, take measurements and photos, and see how the chips fall. It would be nice to see myself get a tiny bit leaner, as a few of my hallmark "I'm thinning out" traits have been hidden since I started eating more. Of course, I might also just keep eating where I'm at, and try to change my workout plans instead. I'm going to talk to a few people and see what they think I should do or how to best tackle things, physically and mentally. 3) Time to Fight: I'm testing in April. That's 2ish months away. I'm not actually worried about the exam, because I'm definitely well versed enough that I should breeze through it. I seem to be one of the few soon-to-test 2nd kyus who is confident in their ability to have a range of techniques. But that aside, I'm going to do something that scares the crap out of me. I'm going to go ask my various sempai what they want to see me nail on the first kyu exam. A lot of it is going to be answered by "do all of this which is going to take a lifetime," so I need to make sure I ask for semi-reasonable things. I'll report back here and then just keep writing about my aikido classes about how things are going. 4) Go. Be Great (at Adulting): I have more than a few adulting tasks I need to do before the end of the month/challenge. So I may as well keep myself accountable here. Ongoing: 3 "UI" unemployment tasks a week (Job hunt, job applications, networking, interviews, phone calls, etc) Ongoing: 10 minutes of tidying things away before bed (dishes, mail, junk on the counter, etc etc) Ongoing: Remember to take your medicine Get my UI paperwork squared away Send UI paperwork to MassHealth so I can keep MassHealth Coverage Get a new script for my anti-anxiety meds Schedule physical/doctor appointment if needed to get the meds Clear out Basement of junk Clear out Pantry of old items Organize the Pantry Clean apartment before new Roommate moves in Make sure the Landlord doesn't hold up the new roommate moving in Contact all apartment applicants and let them know they weren't selected February 28th: If I didn't get the good job I'm banking on, start applying to bank teller/mover/grocery store positions So. That's the plan for this challenge. Hopefully it keeps me sane. Or at least fills the days with something to do. We all ready for this?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ~ Intro ~ *Third time editing this hoLy c r o w * What's Going On: We have one more possible help for the Bad FeelingsTM, but don't get to order until early October. I'm really hoping that it works. But this Challenge won't be about that. This Challenge is about trying to get better at living with the Bad FeelingsTM and managing them. Which I've been trying to do pretty much all year and so far, not so much. But I'm trying again because I understand there's a chance they might not ever go away, and I need to be able to function. So I'm re-visiting what I know helps a bit, and also giving some new things a try. The main goal is to hang on and be productive instead of floating in this interim of waiting for potential solutions. There's also heckofalot of school stuff right now. Which is added stress that won't dissipate until it's done, so I really do have to at least manage well enough to actually get some effective studying done. Um...it's basically guaranteed there will be a lot of back-and-forth in this thread from reasonably cheerful to mega-angst to "I-don't-want-to-be-here" and all that...I try to refrain from posting that stuff but sometimes it feels better to tell someone...still, will be trying to manage that better too now the Challenge has officially begun. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ~ Set-Up ~ Okay, one of the shows I've recently been sucked into is Voltron: Legendary Defender. A friend watched it with serious enthusiasm, but I thought it sounded corny and stupid even if the fanart she was posting was fabulous. Then an acquaintance started to watch it and complained for the first half or so of the series, but then her tone changed and before long she was really into this show an just completely won-over. So I watched it with my brother and we thoroughly enjoyed it, even if there was a nasty cliffhanger. Several weeks later, I'm being buried under plot ideas for fanfictions. Thought I had avoided that, but no such luck. Anyway, in Voltron, you've got your villain, Sendak, who takes over basically the entire universe and proceeds to rule for 10,000 years. After a certain point, all resistance stops and he's just left to do his thing. Then these five adorable Earth children rescue a guy who just got back from having been abducted by aliens, find a gigantic blue robot-lion, wind up on a foreign planet, find four more giant robot lions, and become the main resisting force against the villain and his army of really cute but also hideously evil minions. So we've got teenagers piloting colorful cats around space while they fight evil purple koala-cats. Sounds intense, right? These kids are called Paladins and, for the next four weeks at least, that's my class, too. Each Paladin has different skills, flaws, strengths, weaknesses...they also each have their own Lion that they can operate independently, as well as a unique weapon. The coolest thing, though, is when they form Voltron. It takes all five of them to do that, so if even one is missing, or out of sync with the others, it's just not happening. Similarly, it's going to take all of my goals working together to make any real, solid progress. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ~ The Challenge ~ Each week, there will be a new Villain to fight, each one stronger than the last. For every Task I complete, I earn Attack Points, which lower enemy Health. In turn, failure to complete Tasks earns Attack Points for the enemy, lowering my Health Points. There are also Bonuses to be unlocked, which will come especially handy in later Battles. Scoring: Task Completed = +1 AP Task Failed = -1HP Combo - two or more Paladins' full Task Lists completed. = +5AP per Paladin Form Voltron - all tasks complete. +25AP Bayard Bonus - Paladin's Bonus Task Completed. = +10AP Coran Bonus Quest - +10HP. Can be stacked. Paladin's HP are tallied independently. Voltron's is their cumulative total. HP does not reset between Battles, but may be recovered through Bonus Tasks. If a Paladin reaches 0HP, they are Unconscious until the next day, and a -5AP penalty is incurred. If all Paladins lose consciousness, Voltron falls and the Overall Challenge Score goes down. Downtime: Even Paladins of Voltron can't always be fighting Battles! Saturdays and Sundays are Permitted Rest Days. All non-essential Tasks are optional. There are Five Permissible Days of Weekday Leave which can be used at any time, but not consecutively. If by some miracle an enemy is defeated early, Idk man didn't plan for that. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ~ Goals ~ Keith: The Red Paladin. Guardian of the Spirit of Fire. Said to fight like a Galra Soldier, his Primary Trait is his skill in battle, and the fierce conditioning required. He will represent the 'Body' quests: Walk two miles Workout 100 oz water Track food Do not cause injury Bayard Bonus: Run One Mile Pidge: The Green Paladin. Guardian of the Spirit of Forest. Pidge's Defining Trait is her intellect, particularly concerning her affinity for all things technical. She will represent 'Mind' Quests. Study Math Study French Study Spanish Study Italian Study Code Bayard Bonus: Memorize Times Tables Lance: The Blue Paladin.Guardian of the Spirit of Water. *info* 'Spirit' Quests. Plot/Write One Story Plot/Write One Fanfic Practice Hobby Journal Yoga Bayard Bonus: Organize Writing Life Hunk: The Gold Paladin. Guardian of the Spirit of Land. *info* 'Soul' Quests. 5 Bible Chapters Time in Prayer Keep up with Friends Read "Do Hard Things" Practice ASL Bayard Bonus: Complete new SaltLight Routine. Shiro: *Image Later* Week One: Reading Challenge Week Two: Improve Handwriting Week Three: Improve Posture Week Four: Positivity Challenge Coran Bonus: Clean Bedroom Clean Kitchen Clean Bathroom _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Will finish later because I really need to get to work and also find some food*

Activate Interlocks! Dynotherms connected! Infra-cells up! Mega Thrusters are go! Let's go Voltron force! Main Quest: Continuing adventures of training for my Spartan Race. Last time I slayed the sugar dragon. Now I need to form Voltron to help slay the Burpee robeast. In general, I need to lose more weight and get stronger. My next goal weight is to reach 275lbs. Exercise will help me form Feet and Legs. Then Arms and body. I'll form the head with Tracking and reading. 1) Track Exercise and food intake It's hard for Pidge to work on Voltron if he doesn't know everything that is going on. Nothing extravagant here. I just want to make it a habit to track in my daily battle log what I eat, and what exercises I am doing. I have tried tracking calories or carbs, but that doesn't really work well for me. 2) Workout Everyday Created a google spreadsheet for my workouts here Sunday will be my "rest day" but I will still get walking in that day. (Week 2 add on) Must have at least 3 miles a day in fitbit.(week 3 adjustment. Workout 4 times, walking everyday. 3 miles at least on workout days, 5 miles on non workout days) It's hard working swinging that Blazing Sword. After seeing BlamedCat’s work with the kettlebell, I ordered one. So I will be doing kettlebell, bodyweight and cardio workouts. Still working out exact details for each workout. 3 workouts plus walking/Sprints. Workouts will be gear towards getting burpees done. I can’t do a proper pushup yet, so proper burpees are not there. But I am going to work on as many aspects at I can. Squat thrusts, frog jump, jump squats like in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZQA08SlJnM&feature=youtu.be 3) Intermittent fasting Going to give this a go. I want to start with a 16 hour fast, and 8 hour eating window. After I give this a try I might start moving it to a 18/6. Still eating clean as close to Whole 30/Paleo/Primal type eating. I am going to allow myself one meal that goes outside of this. A “cheat†meal I guess. I don’t have to do the meal, but I can if the situation is needed. I hope this helps me with my weight loss, and helps me get a understanding of my real hunger cycles. Side Quests! 4) Read a book! Time to back away from the internet and help broaden my imagination. So I have the first 4 books of the Game of Thrones. Time to start reading. First challenge I made myself go to bed early. The second challenge I have been staying up again much later then I want to. So this goal will help to correct that again. I don’t want to say i will read x number of pages or a certain number of books. It’s been forever since I let myself get wrapped up in a book. So I think it is time. The plan is to shut off everything by 11:30pm. This means no late workouts to go into this time. I don’t have to be in bed to read, I just have to be off the computer and all other distractions are off. 30 minutes at least every night. If I get into the books and want to read longer, that is fine. I just want to make sure I get 30 minutes in at least. Then hopefully, it will be a easy transition to getting to bed. I'll even say it is a win if I stay up till 2am reading. If I am into the books that much it will be awesome. I'll just have to know to start earlier next time 5) Build towards doing a real good form push up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiFdfDBY77g&feature=youtu.be I want to work on this every day. Basically going to try to work on getting my planks up to a minute. Last I checked I maxed out at 45 seconds. Also going to try to get a minute of Arm extended planks. I’ll also work in knee pushups, and try to to extend part way down pushups with holding in place for as long as possible. If I plan on doing good burpees, I am going to need to get good pushups done, Motivation: I made this in photoshop today to hang up by my computer. I might alter it a bit more to add more things in it, but for now it is good. I want to be a healthy Dad. Eventually to lead them both into a better way of living so they don’t have to spend 30 years or more overweight like I did. I finally hit that below 300 mark. Now the bar goes down to 275. I will hit that. unlikely to happen this challenge, but it will happen soon. Measurements: Starting weight 295lbs Left Bicep - 42.3cm Right Bicep - 41.2 Left Forearm - 32.5 Right Forearm - 32.7 Chest - 127.8 Waist at belly button - 134.5 Neck - 47.2 Left Thigh - 70.5 Right Thigh - 69.5 Left Calf - 50.2 Right Calf - 47.3 Grading: 1) Track Exercise and food intake A - Tracked it all, nice work! B - Missed part of a day C - Missed a whole day D - More then a day missed F - Zero tracking! 2) Workout Everyday A - Got it all in, nice! B - Had to have a rest day, but did great the others Missed a day of workout/walking C - Two rest days, not good! Missed more then one day of walking/workout D - Seems like someone needs to channel beast mode again! F - No workouts 3) Intermittent fasting A - Complete IF every day B - One day messed up C - Two-Three days messed up D - Only one day IF completed F - No days done in IF 4) Read a book! A - At least 30 minutes done per day B - Missed one day C - Missed two days D - hey, and least you opened the book for a bit F - No reading 5) Build towards doing a real good form push up. A - Working hard everyday towards this goal! B - Missed 1 or 2 days C - Missed 3 to 4 days D - Missed 5 or 6 days F - No work done Each Week Summary: Week 1 Summary A Week 2 Summary B Week 3 Summary C Week 4 Summary D Week 5 Summary C Week 6 Summary D Challenge Wrap up!