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Just heard that Mr_Willes has left us and has passed. I dedicate my thread to his memory! ❤️ lets be there for each other and do great stuff while we can! This challenge will be a simple one where I learn to be consistent and treat myself well while hopefully not being bored out of my mind. As you probably know I got sober during the last challenge. Im 12 days in and can happily report that I was lucky not to have been physically addicted. I have had no withdrawal symptoms or urges yet. Still, I used drink in a maladaptive way and have for a time been wondering whether life without my daily bubbly could still be an adventure with lots of fun to be had. You know, I used to drink for the buzz. I didnt want one glass, I wanted 4. If I had kept this up and added a little bit more consumption every year( being at a point where I consumed a bottle of bubbly every night) I would probably need 2 bottles of wine in 4 years. I want to stop before I fuck up my good life and my relationships. Im hearing lots of stories in the SMART meetings I attend online, about people having to rebuild their life from zero who dont have friends anymore because they turned into asshats without realizing. I dont like the word sober though and certainly dont want a life that is boring and where I can't enjoy myself. This challenge I want to go on finding the exiting bits of sobriety. A nice side effect of not opening wine at 6pm is that there is way more time in your day. Im going to use it to take a second walk with my dog child every day. Up to now I have done one walk a day ( 4k) where she could run without leash. Thats simply not enough and I have been quite ashamed of not moving Lara enough. She has a garden to play in at least, but I want to do better. So I commit to walking her around noon and in addition in the early evening. Ive already started this and am currently walking about 8k a day. ( which has the great side effect of melting my blubber as well!) Another thing that has popped up in my newly sober brain is that I want to make more effort again to look nice and well dressed every day. I have a ridicioulusly small budget, so I will not be able to buy nice new clothes. What I can do though is make an effort to look nice. I can have fun with nail polish and a tiny bit of makeup?? maybe find some summer clothes in a charity chop? Thing is: I dont want a partner in the near future because I enjoy being single so much.. that resulted in me not trying to impress people. I dressed nice only when I had work or important appointments. Mostly I would just not care much about what I put on in the mornings or if my hair looked nice. Now I feel like taking better care of myself and even though I wear jogging pants often, I can make some kind of an effort to look kinda well kept. goals: stay sober no matter how you feel and find the fun parts of not drinking. Use the SMART meetings 1 to 2 times a day to check in. Work on some worksheets every week, journal through this phase here and on the SMART website. read quit lit as if your life depended on it. It may depend on it, babe! walk Lara once around 1 pm and a second time in the early evening every weekday. You may do less on weekends. One of those walks has to be without her having to be on a leash. Dont worry about anything else ( Fitbit, time, running intervals) except moving your body in a way that feels good and makes you and the dog happy and exited. Try to be in nature as much as possible. Use your cheap monthly bus/ local train ticket to explore more nice places to take Lara. shower and dress every weekday. You may be a slob on weekends if you dont leave the house or get visitors. Try to combine the shitty clothes you have in a way that makes you look kinda nice. have regular mani/pedi sessions. Explore the joys of nail polish and a tiny bit of makeup. If you have enough money go to some charity shops and see if you can find some nice vintage dresses or short pants for summer. you are not doing this for someone else. You may look nice for yourself, darling!

Fashionably late to the party… [Preamble] Welcome to Owlshire, a beautiful woodland property in the Forest of Dean, England. I’m a 42 year old American woman living here with my British husband (Mr) and 4 y/o son (Enting). I work in gamedev and when I’m not doing that, I’m tending to my garden, doing needlework of some sort, writing, playing games (of various sorts), and exploring our local woodlands. [Challenges] Two, actually. The first one is a happy event in the Yorkshire Dales in June for a wedding, and the second is a solemn pilgrimage to the Pacific Northwest, USA, to help carry my father's ashes* into his favorite spot in the mountains, as per his request. These both happen during the next challenge, but there's a lot of preparations! * Rise Up The hike into the mountains is steep and challenging. I know because I did that hike with Dad many times as a child and once as an adult. Most of the adults (sisters, nieces/partners…) joining us are not particularly fit for purpose, and there will be four children under the age of 5 as well. It’s going to be chaos and I don’t expect everyone will make it to the top before turning back. I’m not turning back. So I want to make sure my hill game is in order, and also get Enting prepared for a longer, steeper walks since I likely won't be carrying him--I'll probably be carrying other children! This means going out at least twice a week and walking (for example) up our lane, which is a very long, steep climb. (More often is better, but I’m trying to be realistic given other life constraints.) I also want to take Enting with me at least once a week to get him better motivated for walking distances. (He has proven he can walk for several miles, but he often doesn’t want to.) The post-wedding June hike in the Yorkshire Dales will be a bit of a test run to further gauge what we will expect in the mountains and any strategy changes we should consider. Organize We haven't done a family overnight trip (let alone a trip abroad) in 2.5+ years. Setting up both of these trips is a lot of faff! I have some huge to-do lists and files and paperwork and coordination with family, and I'm making my way through them. Keep on it! Reach Mordor I’m 555 miles away! I’ve been wanting to complete this challenge since the early 00s (when it was called the Eowyn Challenge), and I’m sure I’ve been “there and back again” several times over, but I’ve never managed to track the whole thing. I want to finish my walking route to Mordor by November 2022. I’m so close! A Hobbit in Attitude, not in Width At the moment, I'm in a good place with my weight/BMI. I do want to get both a touch lower, but all things considered for this challenge I’m under a lot of emotional stress and I just want to maintain. I’ve got enough other things on. My BMI is currently 22.1, and I'll count this successful if it's the same or lower at the end of the challenge. Admin note: I always start on Week 0, and I track from Monday-Sunday. I’m also useless at actually updating my challenges, but I’m always a better me if I post one.

Oh, bother. I was not planning to challenge in this round. I thought perhaps I would just lurk and cheer other folks on, because I don't really have a lot going on except "keep doing what I'm already doing." But having accountability and friends to cheer is always good and there are a few things that I ought to probably bother about Walk like Eeyore Walk for 15 minutes every day. Ideally in the evening, with dog. On days that schedule or weather makes that impractical, around the campus at lunchtime or even around the inside of the large academic building. I'm depressed, have been for a while, and I didn't even realize it until I started throwing pity parties for myself about things that simply didn't warrant them. Walking helps. And it's spring, generally nice weather (wicked humid, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), and I have a walk-friendly neighborhood and a beautiful walking path around the campus. Bounce like Tigger Nothing fancy here. Keep doing IS 3 or 4 days a week. There's a fair bit of jumping in IS. Eat like Rabbit A salad a day. I have vegetable ... issues. I don't eat nearly enough of them. I feel much better when I do eat enough of them. There are some I even like. But the easiest and surest way for me to get a reasonable amount of vegetation into my bod is salad, which I both like and find easy and convenient to make. That's enough for now.

It's that time of year for me. Time to bowl in the USBC Open Nationals Tournament. This year it is in Las Vegas again. I bowl on June 2nd and 3rd. I always have a blast bowling this each year. This will be my 11th year in a row, 14th overall. This year, at least I have been able to get back out and do some bowling in a league. I won't be a complete mess haha. The only problem I'll have is flying back on the 4th. I'm going to miss some of the Pokemon Go Fest! Hopefully, just like the first hour or so of day 1. I skipped last challenge. I was sick during the first couple of weeks. Had my doctors appointment. Things were looking pretty good, but I was put on even more medicine. I had a choice to get higher dosage on one of them as well. I decided to not do that, and attempt to get my eating in control. Then on Friday the 29th, something happened to our old lady cat. She was 22. She did have some trouble getting around, but still jumped up on the couch etc. The morning of the 29th, she was just a different cat. It was like she had a stroke or something. Would not eat, and was aimlessly wondering around the apartment. Barely would open her eyes up. Could hardly walk. Just seemed like she had no sense of anything. I spent quite awhile with her on my chest. I was trying to give her a place she would feel secure to rest. Spent a lot of time crying. It was pretty clear, it was time. We called to get squeezed in over at a animal hospital. Doctor pretty much agreed there was nothing to be done. So, we sent her on her way. My oldest son is just a year older, so he knew her his whole life. It was quite the hit to us. So yeah, not exactly how I imagined coming into May. I'm kind of all over the place. like sitting here at 2:30 am making this post, instead of getting the sleep I should be haha. Ok, enough bringing things down! Once again, let's try to get things on track. I have Vegas to bowl in, plus I really need to get much healthier. While I was not in last challenge, I decided to start making a goal list. Not so much things to get done now, but as of things to eventually do. This challenge needs to be the stepping stone into getting me headed towards my goals. For those that have followed me in the past, I am sure that my goals will be very similar to ones I have had in the past. Goal #1 - Sleep I always seem to have to get this one established again. It's just too easy for me to stay up till 2 or 3am. My youngest has finally gone back to in person learning at school as well. So now I am having to get up early to get him there and back. In general though, I have too many days that I feel tired and run down from lack of sleep. Since I am getting up early, I need to get to bed a bit earlier then I use to as well. Some nights, it might be harder to do, but we shall see. 10:30 PM, I am to get off the computer or whatever. Then I get off to reading asap. At 11 PM I need to head to bed. If I feel like I am not getting enough reading time, I might get to reading earlier, like 10 PM. I'll see how things feel in week zero, and adjust if need be. 20 points each day. 140 points for the week Goal #2 - Movement This will be a big factor for future goals. I've really done almost nothing. Groceries, or caring water jugs up stairs from time to time. Then bowling once or maybe twice a week. Really, very low activity level. I need to change this. Week zero, my only exercise goal, is to get out and walk each day, No time frame, no step count. Just make an actual choice to go out and walk. I have been temped with adding in some meditation in as well. Like walk out someplace, then sit and mediate. Then walk more. Just something to help clear the head. Though I do get that with bigger walks too. I would also like to get into doing some workouts. Like a Monday, Wednesday, Friday split. I think week 1 I will start this. Probably just some bodyweight stuff to start. I did get myself a pull up bar and resistance bands to do assisted pull ups. I just have to try it out. I also think I want to start in slow here too. Like do at least once exercise from my list. So even if I just do feel it, just do 10 squats or something. I'll most likely do more, but I figured I would have the "do just one" to at least keep me going. It use to work for me back in the day for walking. I'd tell myself "You can give up 15 minutes at least to walk" I hope that I start off with the baby steps, then I can add on more in week 2 or 3. Honestly, just have to see how things go. Walking every day, M, W, F workouts outs (Do at least one Exercise) 10 points each day for walking, 10 points each day for workouts. 100 total points for the week. Goal #3 - Get food under control I really have been struggling on what I should do for my food. I've not been happy with my blood sugar levels. I really don't want to be on the medication I am on right now. I know, I could get myself back in a range I want fairly quickly if I went back to eating Keto. Obviously, I need to lose weight, That can be done doing any real method of eating. I just have to eat less then I burn. Eating Keto doesn't magically just make you lose weight. I felt it did help me though, with cravings and such. Still, I feel like it might not be the best long term for me. At some point I will want potatoes, or popcorn, and pizza. From my previous doctors appointment, I wanted to see if I can eat like I normally have been eating, and see what effect the medicine would have on me. It is better, but I'm not that happy with it. Though, I didn't exactly steer away from eating all the things. This challenge, I'm not going to eat a certain way so much, but I do want to make sure I am eating in a calorie range at least. Funny enough, I think when I did eat Keto, I was also eating more vegetables a better foods then just junk I have been eating. Main point of this goal is to track what I eat. Hopefully, work on better choices of foods to eat too. Lower calorie/higher volume foods and such. Baby steps first, just track and stay in my calorie range. I know there are some days I will just be hungry and want to eat. I want to try to have an upper number to not pass. Track food 7 days a week. 2,000 to 2800 calories. I'd like to range 2200-2500 on average I think. So hopefully, not too many higher days 10 points each day, 70 points each week. There are many other things I want to do, but I really want to keep it much more simple to get me started off again. Here is to getting all the kinks worked out in week 0, then having a really good challenge! Measurements: Start / Finish Chest - Waist - Bicep (L) - Bicep (R) - Thigh (L) - Thigh (R) - Weight - Points: Week 1 (05/08 - 05/14) - 0/310 Week 2 (05/15 - 05/21) - 0/310 Week 3 (05/22 - 05/28) - 0/310 Week 4 (05/29 - 06/04) - 0/310 Week 5 (06/05 - 06/11) - 0/310 Total Challenge Points - 0/1550

Vetinari sighed, and put down his pen. "Drumknott," he called towards the outer chamber. The clerk entered noiselessly. "Yes, my lord?" he said. The Patrician waved at the papers on his desk. "Take these away. I'm..." He trailed off, and rubbed his goatee distractedly. Drumknott cleared his throat. "Bored, sir?" He gathered up the papers on the desk into a neat sheaf. "One does not get bored of ruling a city like Ankh-Morpork, Drumknott," said Vetinari in a tone that would, in other men, be described as slightly peevish. No one ever described the patrician of Ankh-Morpork as peevish. At least, not if they valued a scorpion-free existence on the outside of the dungeon walls. It was, however, the time of year when a certain... restlessness set in. It was the same every May. One would have to be fairly close to the Patrician to notice this shift in mood, and that was precisely where most people strove not to be. Drumknott noticed. "I have taken the liberty, my lord," said Drumknott. He placed a thin file folder in front of Vetinari, and carefully squared it up. "I thought one of these might amuse." Vetinari opened the folder. He flipped past the first sheet, plucked out the second sheet for further perusal, then the third, flipped past the fourth, and paused on the fifth. "Interesting," he said. "She has been away quite some time, has she not?" "Indeed, sir," said Drumknott. "I understand she will be reporting back to work soon. The Dark Clerks have cleared a desk for her. Do you wish to send down an assignment?" "Oh, I think we should have a very special assignment waiting for Sara Kingdom," said Vetinari. He smiled thinly. A Challynge yn Foure Partes Parte I: Clerking "As a wizard, I must tell you, Havelock, that words have power." "As a politician, I must tell you I already know." I'm reading two books that talk about writing as a mental transformation habit, which I was surprised to find, cuz I've been toying with the idea of "write it down or it didn't happen" as a core principle of thinking through plans and problems - basically, the idea that if you don't make it tangible, you're probably kidding yourself on how clearly and well you really thought it through - and writing as a way of finding out what you're not aware you think, the act of recording as a necessary part of the thinking process itself. The first is inspired by Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way", but brings in more research-based stuff, and the second is one of the researchy books it's based on. So I will be hauling out the notebooks and doing a lot of writing. There will be some basic journalling to clear my head and figure out what I'm interested in these days. There will be weekly (and possibly daily) planning and review writing on sets of questions and stuff, to make myself do the job clearly and fully, and bypass the lack of focus going on. There may even be an experiment with expressive writing as a way of processing and clearing the head of various bits of negative flotsam and jetsam it stalls out on, or has to keep handling. (Doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs, but the science is good.) Basically, a lot of writing. A ton of writing. Parte II: Monking "Time has stopped for everyone but you," said Sweeper patiently. "Actually, that sentence is wrong in every particular, but it’s quite a useful lie." Lately, I've been managing to sleep purely by doing very deliberate physical and mental stillness meditations in bed. It's ridiculously hard. This is not normal for me, at least in recent years, so it's a big sign that my meditation habit needs to come back in a big way. If my brain is buzzing that hard when I'm trying to sleep, it's probably jangling that hard all the time, and that can't be helping anything. So I'm gonna learn how to stop time and get some stillness back with meditation. Parte III: Patrolling Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. This part is simple. Walking. I will patrol my city. Parte IV: Assassining The Assassin moved quietly from roof to roof until he was well away from the excitement around the Watch House. His movements could be called catlike, except that he did not stop to spray urine up against things. Strength and mobility training, for scaling rooftops and things. The strength training will start with a continuation of the previous challenge's isometric stuff: horse stance (static squat), planks, ITWY exercises, and some bridge. When my schedule gets wrangled into shape, I will try to get some daily yoga before bed, but it's not gonna be a week 1 kinda goal. It was a Guild of Assassins, after all. Black was what you wore. The night was black and so were you. And black had such style, and an Assassin without style, everyone agreed, was just a highly paid arrogant thug. Pure bonus material, but I think some wearing of black and stylishness should get points. A lot of aikido teachers will tell you to focus on elegance, and putting the focus on the process rather than the goal tends to improve the efficacy. I've noticed this with writing, too; a focus on elegant handwriting tends to slow down and smooth the jangly bits in the brain and the content becomes better. Ye Planne The plan is not to jump into doing all of this at once, because I'm currently at very low capacity for getting things done and adding things to my list, but to step up how much I'm doing during the challenge. Some goals aren't even on my list for the initial week or two, and the rest, for the first couple of weeks, I'll be fine with hitting them half the days. Doing something half the days is better than zero of the days, and I'm going to need some time to try to find a good schedule time for them. Wrangling my schedule, especially when it comes to sleep, is turning out to be a big obstacle, so I'm starting by doing just what helps get that stabilized better. Template: Week 0 Day 1 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Meditation Journal Written Plans & Reviews Emotive Writing Exercise Walking Strength Yoga Assassin Style Bonus

Hi. I'm Stronkey Kong. I've been on NF for almost 9 years now. I'm just as fat as when I joined... but maybe a bit healthier overall. I'll take it. Last challenge tanked because of a putative Covid-19 infection, and I spent most of April managing and recovering. I'm at like 99% now though. All the symptoms are gone, but I'm still regaining bits of strength from weeks of barely eating and getting things back in balance. This is my last day off from a week-long (and long overdue) vacation, where I got some gardening done, but not finished, and I still need to fix my bathtub. I recently bought a bass guitar and am (obsessively) learning to play it. I've been playing guitar since I was 13, and can even sit at a keyboard and dink around with chords without getting lost. I have an unpolished knack for music, and I want to start writing/recording my own stuff and maybe join a band for fun at some point. I also bought an electronic drum kit, but that's not top priority. (Nyango Star vid, not part of theme... but I just can't bring myself to delete it) Yeah... I just turned 38, so I might just be getting an early start on a mid-life crisis thing, but I'm just gonna roll with it and have some fun... Playing music is great for a lot of reasons... keeps me active (at least better than TV and video games), it can be a way to connect with other people, and it definitely lifts my mood and keeps me engaged intellectually... but I am getting a little bit obsessed and need to take care of other things. I'm focusing on learning RB and Soul at the moment, so might as well go with a Blues Brothers theme... cuz I've heard them sing more Soul songs than actual blues songs... and whatever, these gifs are fun. GOALS: 1) Plant based diet:: Don't eat like Jake and Elwood Before I got sick, I was eating a '99% plant based diet' and made to a bit past 30 days. It was going very well. I'd lost a few pounds and had zero acid reflux and was overall feeling really good. When I got sick I gave up because I wanted comfort food and couldn't eat much with my sore throat and nausea and lack of taste. Now I'm dealing with upset stomach and acid reflux etc. again. So I need to go back. But I'm going to aim for 90%... meaning 18 or 19 of my meals each week should be entirely plant based. The other 2-3 meals are just allowed to deviate for the sake of flexibility and filling in a few nutritional gaps. 2) Stay Active: I could easily sit around in all my free minutes playing music and watching videos about music. But I need to make sure I get some actual exercise again. For starters I'm going to start going Morning Burpees (with a pushup). I'll start with 5 on day one, and add one every day till I hit thirty. After that I'll do another activity like walking, quick calisthenics routines, and gardening/house work all count. 5 days per week. 3) Fix more than I break and don't leave a trail of destruction everywhere I have a long list of projects and things to do in or around the house. Usually, once I get started, 1 hour can become 3 or 4. Every day I'm off of work make at least 1 hour of progress toward gardening or getting things fixed in the house. 4) Get good at BASS! -- I'm taking online lessons through a self-paced study platform, that also has web forum just like this with practice logs you're supposed to maintain... actually using the same web platform and is almost identical except for the color palate and minor format things... so if I mistakenly just insert a post on this thread about rambling about bass guitar and music theory or whatever, just know that I'm really tired and got my forums mixed up 🤣 Practice Bass everyday, and post in my practice log. And for fun I'll post some videos of the songs I'm learning. I think the direction I'm heading in is to learn Soul and R&B bass as my focus. So I'll be learning and transcribing (learning by ear) those along with some rock, blues, and jazz gems mixed in there. Maybe I should learn 'Rawhide' 🤔

Well I wanted to start off this year strong, but just everything was too overwhelming. Completely nope'd last challenge. I did however get myself to some much needed appointments. New glasses, a few dental things having to be done, and a doctor visit this last Wednesday. How did things go? Bad. I've gone from controlling my diabetes, to going full on back into OMG territory. A1c was very high. So now I get to jump back on medication. Plus a start a second medication in 8 more days. Like it was bad enough, there was no "Can I just see where I am at in 2 months". I have the yearly physical appointment set for 2 months from now. Lab work about a week before. I immediately though of going full on keto again. I know it did very well for controlling blood sugar in the past. The problem is, I just don't think this is how I would eat forever. I like popcorn. I would like to still have a potato etc. These next couple of months, I want to see if I can get things back in control. I want to focus on eating foods that will be lower calorie, higher volume. A lot of what Greg Doucette had referred to. This should still offer me some flexibility. I just really can't let myself eat all the things. Like the cupcakes and other sweets my wife still bought today. I also really need to get moving, and sleeping well. I still have plenty of things I really need to do around the apartment. I'm going to try to not overwhelm myself with too much. I can't just jump in and start all the things at once, even when my brain thinks I should be able too haha. Goal#1) I need to reset my sleep cycle Too many nights, it's after 2 am when I go to bed. Too many morning I don't get out of bed. This puts me in the mood of "I don't feel like doing anything", and "Wow, I've already lots the whole day sitting around in bed" The goal is to try to get myself back into a proper sleep cycle. I want to get back to reading before bed again. So stop what I am doing to read at 10:30 PM. Then I read for an hour. Get off to bed at 11:30 PM. This should get me into bed around 11:45 PM. Provided I get to bed, I don't want to sit in bed for hours. So I also want to get up with my alarm. I'll set this at 8:30 PM for the moment, but I imagine I'll be getting up earlier. It's sort of happened a little be this last week when I did get to bed earlier. Off to read at 10:30 PM, Off to bed at 11:30 PM, get the heck out of bed in the morning 15 points each day. 105 points for the week Goal#2) Fueling for success Let's see if I can set myself up to eat well in these next couple of months. I need to get back to tracking my food. I want to track in Cronometer, but even if I track with pen and paper, that counts! I just want to give myself the best chance to get it done. With tracking, I can make sure my calories are in a deficit. Or at least it might help me figure that out. I want to aim for under 2500 calories for now. I could get myself down in the 1800 area, but that didn't seem to work the best in the past. At least in the long run. So slower, should hopefully be better. Tracking food intake, Under 2500 Calories 10 points per day, 70 points for the week Goal#3) Start small, build up to more There is many things I want to do. I want to run again. I want to be able to do a pull up. I want to feel stronger and healthier. I just know I can't jump in full throttle. I need to start off small, and build things up. I am going to start with walking. I'm not going to set a certain time, or number of steps. I just want to get walking each day. Short goal, I want to be able to walk around nearby Lake Elizabeth. Pokemon Go Tour 2022 runs on February 26th. It's from 9 am to 9 pm. I want to be able to stay out there for a few hours walking around. It's going to be too soon to just expect I go out there and walk the whole time, but I can rest on some benches haha. I also ordered myself some resistance bands, and a pull up bar that can handle heavier people. First focus is walking. I might do some indoor bodyweight stuff soon, but I want to focus on walking first. Hopefully, a week or two in, I will be ready for more exercising. Farther walks, workouts, maybe even starting to run. I'll see how things go. If I feel I want to add I will. Walking first though Week 1: Walk every day 10 points per day, 70 on the week. No goal 4. I want to add things to do. I need to focus on the first 3 goals first. It's a few changes, and I don't want to feel forced that I have to get even more things done. I have my goals, I want to see much improvement buy my next doctor visit. Good news for my vision, she didn't see any diabetes damage to my eyes. My dental work it things that I have needed to fix for the last couple of years. Might weight has actually been lower too. It's not all bad news for me. I just feel let down that I did this tom myself. Measurements - Day 1 / End of challenge Chest - Waist - Bicep (L) - Bicep (R) - Thigh (L) - Thigh (R) - Weight - Challenge Points Week 1 (02/13 - 02/19) - 0/245 Week 2 (02/20 - 02/26) - 0/245 Week 3 (02/27 - 03/05) - 0/245 Week 4 (03/06 - 03/12) - 0/245 Week 5 (03/13 - 03/19) - 0/245 Total points - 0/1225

Gunna focus on stuff that I’ve found works in the past (thinking: eating the 5/4/3/2/1, daily walks, not drinking soft drinks etc) with a theme of self love, starting on Valentine’s Day and doing things for myself from love, not hate. Will flesh it out proper but not at 11pm after DnD 😂

[Preamble] Welcome to Owlshire, a beautiful woodland property in the Forest of Dean, England. I’m a 42 year old American woman living here with my British husband (Mr) and pre-school son (Enting). I work in gamedev and when I’m not doing that, I’m tending to my garden, doing needlework of some sort, writing, playing games (of various sorts), and exploring our local woodlands. [Goals] My fitness goals are thus: Reach Mordor Finally finish my (tracked) journey to Mordor. I’m 889 miles away! I’ve been wanting to complete this challenge since the early 00s (when it was called the Eowyn Challenge), and I’m sure I’ve been “there and back again” several times over, but I’ve never managed to track the whole thing. I want to finish my walking route to Mordor by November 2022. My goal for this challenge is 150 miles (which is an average of 25 miles a week). I will do this in a combination of longer walks but also just getting up and moving around more during the day. I can settle into my chair in my office in the morning and not get up again until lunchtime. I think it would be better to get up do shorter walks and activities on days I can’t do a longer one. More PAI Continue with PAI. For this challenge, I want to build up to an average score of 75 (and actually maintain it). I hope to do this both with my more exerting walks, but also by doing short impact cardio like burpees and jumping jacks when I can’t get out for one of those hilly walks. Less BMI (Updated Week Zero) I want to continue to reduce my BMI/weight. This will be done with increased activity and continuing to watch my portion sizes/limited snacking. I’m currently at 22.8 BMI, and I will count this goal successful if my BMI is less than it was before, or if my weight is less than it was the beginning of the challenge. (This is because BMI is a different measurement that may not “tick over” even if I’m still making progress.) Tracking will be done with a minimum of weekly updates, and of course will include plenty of Owlshire photospam. Level Up My Life: Driving Practice A non-fitness goal that I’m adding partially because it impacts my time for fitness, but also because it’s really important: practicing for my driving test. Here in the UK, Covid has caused understandable but huge delays—at the moment scheduling a practical driving test is around 6-10 months of lead time and if you fail or have to reschedule? You can wait that length of time again. My test is scheduled for 28 March and because of these ongoing delays, I’m under a lot of pressure to “one and done” that test. We live out in the country now, and being able to drive is critical, especially now that the Mr is going to start traveling for work again. So, my goal here is to minimum 2 (3 is better) practice drives a week, which is about what we can usually fit in. There is one week where Mr will be away for work that’ll impact that, but I’ll note that when we get to that week. Tracking will be done with a minimum of weekly updates, and of course will include plenty of Owlshire photospam. [Challenges] It’s likely that my husband will soon need to start commuting part of the week to his studio and I’ll be regularly solo-parenting which will require some routine adjustments. My household has a tendency to catch every germ (except, so far, Covid) that comes through the Enting’s preschool. I do not exaggerate when I say this happens about every other week. This tends to knock down my fitness goals since I become housebound looking after people even if I’m not sick myself. I’d really like to work on alternatives for when I can’t go for long hikes in the woods—which is my preference, but can’t always happen. Admin note: I always start on Week 0, and I track from Monday-Sunday.

Ahhhh how I love new beginnings! The start of a challenge is the best part for me: you get to dream up your ideal day and there is always the hope of coming out on the other side having magically lost all the weight and built all the muscle and flexibility! CONSTRUCTION SITE! my body is stiff and brittle and Im old. thats the starting point. Sadly being stiff in my case means my achilles tendons are chronically inflamed and hurt. A lot! so after a year of pain Im trying different orthopedic soles, new advice from my PT and YOGA! certain holy beings among us have finished a 30 day program. So Im doing that too. I chose a yoga teacher with the cool name Fightmaster ,who sadly passed away, leaving me a 30 day beginners course to try out in her honor. I was tempted to go for Adrienne, but I can always do that afterwards. This course starts with 15 minute classes and works up to 30 minutes. I even splurged and ordered two yoga blocks and a yoga belt (??) thingy to pull your body parts in certain directions. they will arrive tomorrow. GOAL do a class daily. you may repeat or adjust classes. main thing is to move about in weird ways every day. HEADBANGERS KITCHEN I have jumped on the keto train a couple of years ago. during the first 2 years I was super diligent and my ass melted down to an acceptable size. Then I proceeded to order pizza during hard times and having croissants with jam as often as I fucking wanted. Those breaks have had my weight exploding and if I ever want be able to run a 5k or fit into my nice clothes again, I will need to change! Last challenge I managed to get back to orderly eating and lost 3kg. Now I want more! While browsing the interwebs for cheap keto recipes I found this hilarious Indian guy ( a death metal musician, thus his title!) whose kitchen equipment looks like mine. No fancy stuff there. The good dude presents keto for people who dont have money for steak every night and makes it fun and accessible. I have his book now and the latest weightloss is due to his no nonsense recipes. I want more of that during this challenge. ( why on earth did I start taking about buttery croissants? now I want one!) GOAL eat cheap and tasty keto foods, prep when necessary. have a tiny cute ass when finished! TALES OF A LOUSY WEEKEND WRITER After publishing a terribly written book in 2019 I have proceeded to call myself a writer without, well erm, writing anything. I have been avoiding writing by planning a podcast, doing other stuff and basically feeling smug about having a book out. To be honest, I like the process of being in the midst of typing down a pice of world literature. I just haven't found what I want to write about next. So during this challenge, my job is to sit down at my desk every weekend and find a topic first, then begin writing a shitty first draft of basically anything. My goal is to get back into the habit and being able to say I used the pandemic to write a bestseller. GOAL find a topic to write about and start a first draft. You must sit down every Saturday and Sunday for at least 30 minutes and stare at your dirty screen. Apart from those 3 goals you will read about the dog child, hiking at the beach, me feeling important by being involved in local politics and tales of a woman with a non existent financial budget.

Some may say I need to be committed, I say if it includes my own padded room that doesn't sound so bad! I have reached challenge number 70...not all of these challenges went the way I planned, not all of these challenges resulted in me leveling up, All of those challenges have resulted in learning something, even if it's what doesn't work for me. I'm a pretty typical type A, I prefer to do things myself, have a difficult time asking for help and sharing my feelings...the older I get the more I realize this is not always healthy. I work from home, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle. I've been a workaholic as long as I can remember, mostly because of past experience and not wanting to have to count on anyone for things I need. D (my wife for those new here) and I have had many conversations about this. She understands my feelings because she's the same way, but we also know the importance to our relationship for us to be able to depend and count on each other. This is a very long winded way of saying that we need to remember to step away from work and have some fun, riding our motorcycles are a huge part of this for us for right now our every 4 week trips to FL also count towards this. The Plan... Cardio - 8,000 steps a day (includes 30 min on treadmill), and one kettlebell workout a week Update - Post in thread three times a week. Track - Sleep (7 hours a night) and Food (deficit per tracker) Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life events go here Done - 🌈 Not Done - ❄️ I have a Terrain Race planned in May that I do not want to embarrass myself at, I'd also like to get rid of the 35 lbs. that I put on since the last race I did in Feb 2020.

Been a long time between challenges.... Goals: 1. 6 weeks of weight loss using Fast 800... loosely at first becoming stricter. 2. No/low carb to acheive mild keto for as long as possible. Test using keto stix. 3. Walk...a lot. 30km a week ideally, if i can wind it up then 10k steps a day. My knee is still dodgy (getting old) so not sure how this'll go. 4. Covid is gripping Australia right now and spreading like wildfire. Try not to get it. Channel my introvert superpowers! Super busy at work, which is good and bad... End of last year i dropped 14kg. I've put 4 back on, want to lose another 4 6-8 or so this challenge. Starting=93.7kg

Two days before Christmas, I got word that my cousin died. He was 6 weeks older then me. I'll be 49 in November this year. Apparently he had a heart attack, and has had a multiples. In fact, has a pacemaker already too. We were all much more close back when I lived in Missouri, and saw that side of my family a lot more. My cousin was a big guy, and I'm sure that was part of what led to his early death. Years back, my uncle (his dad) had mentioned to me "Yeah, we can see you are a Thomas" while hitting his belly. I mean, at the time it was funny. But it just shows that I have a lot of bigger family out there haha. For New Years, I helped my sister-in-law move. Part of why I am late to the challenge Her fiancé is currently on dialysis. He also has quite a few issues from having uncontrolled diabetes. They are not that much older then I am. Eyes are messed up, kidneys etc. This all got me thinking about my own mortality again. My wife had her weight loss surgery done. She's still recovering some from that, but mostly recovered. I basically sat out the last challenge to take care of her. Before all this, I've been getting that feeling that I really need to change things for myself. All of this and all the other things we've all been through the last couple of years, I figure it is time for me to get serious. #1) Sleep Yes, big surprise my number 1 goal is to get my sleep in. It is just so important to everything else. Fully rested, I make much better choices. Getting rest allows recover from workouts etc. In general, thing are just much better rested, instead of feeling drained and sleepy. 10:30 PM Start reading. 11:30 PM head to bed. Wake up, and get out of bed. No sitting there playing on the phone. 15 points per day. 105 points per week. #2) Calorie tracking I want to get back to tracking my calories. I want to be under 2500 calories for now. I can adjust to see how I feel. Nothing special for a way of eating. I just want to start making smarter choices. Higher volume, lower calories I suppose. I did consider going back to Keto, because it did work well for me. I just don't know that that is going to be how I would want to eat forever. I still like having my popcorn Tracking calories in Cronometer, plus staying under 2500 calories 10 points per day, 70 points per week. #3) Walking and workouts One thing is clear, is I need to make sure to take care of my heart. So bring on the cardio. I might also be able to convince my older son to start walking too. He has mentioned to me lately. Maybe even get the rest of the family going. I also want to build up my strength. There are a few goals I wish to accomplish, and getting stronger will help For walking. I am going for 15 minutes to start off. I might do 5 minutes to start with my kid, then do more after. I figure that's a good start. Eventually, I will move it up to a certain number of steps. For workouts, I believe I will just start off with things at home. Everyone and their mom will probably start using out little gym at my apartment complex. So I want to start off with something else. Eventually moving into the bit of stuff at the gym. Walking 5 points every day for 15 minutes each day. M, W, F for workouts. 10 points each. 65 points each week. #4) Chores and Early spring cleaning There are many things to get done around here, plus the stuff that needs to get done each day or two. We close up our storage unit a couple of challenges a back. So we still just have so much stuff to go through. Chores each day are dishes and cat boxes. Then I need to get though a tub, or a few boxes of baseball cards/comics. There are many other things, but these are what I shall focus on. 5 points per day for chores, and 15 total points for decluttering each week. 50 points total per week. Challenge point totals: Week 1 - 0/210 Week 2 - 0/290 Week 3 - 0/290 Week 4 - 0/290 Week 5 - 0/290 Total points this Challenge - 0/1370 Measurements Start / Finish (coming soon) Chest - Waist - Bicep (L) - Bicep (R) - Thigh (L) - Thigh (R) - Weight -

Hey there! It's been a while. I honestly don't even know what's going on in here, it's like I'm brand new. If you've been here for a while or are active on Facebook, you might know me. If not, hi. I'm Devyn. I decided I needed some accountability for my fitness goals over the next few months, especially since I'm getting ready for Camp Nerd Fitness! I injured my back over a year ago and have been dealing with chronic pain ever since. I let my fitness slide due to disability and I let my nutrition slide in the process. This next few months are going to be focusing on getting back on track, respawning, and hopefully feeing a bit more mobile. Here are my goals: Goal 1: At least one Peloton workout a day. Even if it's a 5 minute class, do something. This is to get into the habit of moving even if I don't feel like it. Goal 2: Track my food on My Fitness Pal I'll start with about 80% "whole foods" at 1700 cals and work my way down in cals if I need to (or up if it calls for that) Goal 3: Walk 10k steps per day By walking my dogs, opting for stairs and parking further. I'm going to try to look for a good treadmill for the not so great days. Maybe I can ask for one for my birthday. I'm here for accountability and getting to know others. If you're active on Peloton, let me know so we can be friends. If you're active on My Fitness Pal, same! If you're active on Garmin Connect, I am tracking my steps there and would love to see you. Happy New Year! Allons-y!

Tis the first challenge of the year and thanks to the December Mini, I'm raring to go! 😁 1. Get to bed earlier I am really really horrid at this right now, so this is going to be my hard goal for the challenge. I think this might have more of an impact than anything else, but it will be interesting to see. I will also be trying out a few things to see if it helps me get to sleep and stay asleep, so it will be a little more complex than just 'change the time on the alarms'. Week 1 - Bed 9, Lights Out 11, Awake 745 Week 2 - Bed 9, Lights Out 1045, Awake 730 Week 3 - Bed 9, Lights Out 1030, Awake 715 Week 4 - Bed 9, Lights Out 1015, Awake 700 Week 5 - Bed 9, Lights Out 10, Awake 645 2. Take more daily steps I am at 2k average right now, but I'm not trying at all and on dog walk days it gets up to 6k... so I'm hoping this one will be a medium-easy win. I have a treadmill for rainy days, but I'm hoping to get most of the steps via cleaning/decluttering the house and dog walking (when it's not raining). Week 1 - 3k steps average Week 2 - 3.5k steps average Week 3 - 4k steps average Week 4 - 4.5k steps average Week 5 - 5k steps average 3. Work on shoulder flexibility and being able to keep arm raised (without weights) This one is my 'not sure about' goal. It's not something I can really fix in a single challenge, so this time around I am just going to look up a bunch of various streaches and bodyweight excercises. I'll get a baseline for where I'm at and what I can do... and then update the goals as needed. I meant to get it done before the challenge kicked off, but, err... life happened. 😅 Week 1 - Experiment with a bunch of things Week 2 - ??? Week 3 - ??? Week 4 - ??? Week 5 - ??? ----------------------------------------- Other things I will also be doing and probably commenting on: Artwork, Writing, Cleaning, Decluttering, Cooking, etc. ----------------------------------------- I used the following BuJo/Planner printables (may be tweaked as the challenge goes along): 2022 Overview - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1zlf3E_RJRhHap1errir22Zp5RjHutsA8a3rnMVeriAo/edit?usp=sharing Goal Brainstorming - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1bKbZ9C2_u3-8uofp5BNnm3i8W7i9qs-ga016a2KOLFk/edit?usp=sharing 5-week planning page - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1JRvBceRfOeKqEFE8shiEVGG5x1Nj1b7hqsRh4uZAD4A/edit?usp=sharing 1-week tracking page - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/18hTMHjX3ufmUCMxDh6z1sEnPefCpMKsImpASB6BqK4w/edit?usp=sharing

Harriet’s Lifestyle Healing Magic: Quarter of Earth This is part four of a year that I am setting aside to try to heal from chronic exhaustion and demotivation. There are four aspects to lifestyle healing magic: food, stress, movement, and sleep. But I also want to include things in my life that make it meaningful: lifting, painting, writing, spirit work. I keep veering between demanding too much of myself, and too little. I need a schedule, but it needs to be tiny and achievable. I am going to put some things on hold while I get the workouts consistent again. In this Challenge I will organise the first quarter of my day. I will work out, get groceries, then walk in the park for forty minutes. This quarter of the day shall be dedicated to the spirits of earth, in the hopes of receiving strength, resilience, persistence and material health. Transfiguration (movement) Last challenge, non-walking exercise was optional and I didn’t do it. This time it isn’t optional. Ambulatory Ritual I will walk for forty minutes daily after my breakfast or grocery shopping (I shop three times per week). Hypertrophic Chant Alternating with cardio, I will do push, pull and lower body workouts at home with five exercises and five sets each, and one minute rest periods. It should not be exhausting, but rather gently remind my muscles to be strong. Miniature HIIT Spell All previous attempts to do cardio have resulted in non progression and failure. From what is known or hypothesised about CFS, I believe long lasting medium intensity work is out of the question. Unfortunately, everything above walking is medium intensity for me. So I will try very short intervals. Alternating with the strength workouts, I will do five all out ‘sprints’ on the cross trainer of only thirty seconds each, with thirty seconds rest. That is all for now. Potions (food) Lesson One: Do Not Ingest Poison: no sweets, caffeine, or alcohol I had some dried mangoes recently and not only could I not stop eating them, they upset my stomach. Sweets are out, except for fresh whole fruit. I also had two glasses of wine last night (first time in about five months) and I got a headache, disturbed sleep, upset guts, and I was sad when the wine ran out. Instead, I could have just been sad without side effects by not drinking in the first place. Good lesson, I suppose. Ale of Paleolithium I am now eating a slightly higher carb, lower fat paleo diet to see if I can keep the benefit of low anxiety while also treating the reflux and getting some more physical energy. No grains or legumes, and I may cut out dairy too, just to see if it changes anything. I may be pressured by family or questioned about the scientific justification, but no one can actually put grains in my mouth except me. Ketonics Module II My doctor said to keep eating keto, and instead prescribed me a medicine for the reflux. She also said we'll test my blood again in January to make sure the diet isn't killing me. Therefore, I should continue eating keto, not paleo. She didn't want me to give up dairy. I am happy to obey and drink cream. Defence Against the Dark Arts (stress) I stopped meditating last challenge to see if the massive reduction in anxiety was from meditation or diet. It was from diet. Meditation is on hold until I get some other habits sorted. Charms (sleep) Somnolence Ritual I will take melatonin as it is helping, and I will do 20 diaphragmatic breaths in bed because I heard they are both calming and good for reflux.

There is my scoring system. It is very simple, because what I can manage right now is a very simple challenge. My challenge will probably change as it goes on, because I'm starting out with a major logistical issue, and then, like, travel and holidays. My list from last year is still pretty good: Make a list and check it twice Hogswatch cheer Walking in a winter wonderland However, it might be a lot for the first couple weeks of this challenge, so, while we are assured THERE ARE RULES, this is more of what you might call a guideline. Right. Challenge. Here we go. Things need to get done.

DISCLAIMER: This challenge has nothing to do with the show Supernatural. Sorry if the title is misleading. Late to the game, but blessed to be able to join this challenge. After some serious (but not severe) life challenges... ... I've found myself lost amid the chaos again. Bad eating habits and not staying active have taken a toll on my health lately. I used to be the guy who hardly gets sick, but now in the course of two months I've had a respiratory infection and a stomach virus, and my stress levels have been higher than typical. So, I return to something that used to both bring me joy and help me stay consistent with my workouts: lifting heavy objects Upon visiting their site this morning, I came across a new-to-me RPG style workout program called Pathfinder. After a closer look, I've decided it's a perfect way to get back into caring for myself with some physical training. And, as has become part of my true nature, there will also be plenty of poetry to accompany this adventure. PHYSICAL GOAL: Lift heavy objects as often as possible. I've had to modify my goals since the first time I posted this, but I'm beginning to realize that I need to return to simple and practical. I'm finding opportunities to run but struggling to find time to follow a prescribed workout routine, so I've decided to start lifting heavy things again. This includes cinderblocks, logs, stones, kettlebells, weights, and my own body whenever the opportunity presents itself. They key is to lift mindfully, focusing on specific muscles/muscle groups and specific movements. NUTRITIONAL GOALS: I will eat mindfully, selecting foods that nourish my body and don't leave me feeling blah after eating them. From the Harvard School of Public Health: "Eating mindfully means that you are using all of your physical and emotional senses to experience and enjoy the food choices you make. This helps to increase gratitude for food, which can improve the overall eating experience. Mindful eating encourages one to make choices that will be satisfying and nourishing to the body. However, it discourages “judging” one’s eating behaviors as there are different types of eating experiences. As we become more aware of our eating habits, we may take steps towards behavior changes that will benefit ourselves and our environment." Seven practices of mindful eating From SAVOR: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life Honor the food. Acknowledge where the food was grown and who prepared the meal. Eat without distractions to help deepen the eating experience. Engage all senses. Notice the sounds, colors, smells, tastes, and textures of the food and how you feel when eating. Pause periodically to engage these senses. Serve in modest portions. This can help avoid overeating and food waste. Use a dinner plate no larger than 9 inches across and fill it only once. Savor small bites, and chew thoroughly. These practices can help slow down the meal and fully experience the food’s flavors. Eat slowly to avoid overeating. If you eat slowly, you are more likely to recognize when you are feeling satisfied, or when you are about 80% full, and can stop eating. Don’t skip meals. Going too long without eating increases the risk of strong hunger, which may lead to the quickest and easiest food choice, not always a healthful one. Setting meals at around the same time each day, as well as planning for enough time to enjoy a meal or snack reduces these risks. Eat a plant-based diet, for your health and for the planet. Consider the long-term effects of eating certain foods. Processed meat and saturated fat are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer and heart disease. Production of animal-based foods like meat and dairy takes a heavier toll on our environment than plant-based foods. I do not plan to switch to a plant-based diet, but I do plan to increase the amount of vegetables and fruits that I consume and reduce processed meats. MENTAL/SPIRITUAL GOALS: I will re-instate my morning practice. I will read and post one poem a day, as well as write a poem of my own every day. MORNING PRACTICE: 0415 wakeup prayer/contemplative meditation scripture reading breath work cold shower BONUS CHALLENGE: Read Becoming Supernatural and complete the recommended mindfulness exercises. And that is my challenge. As always, I am grateful to those of you who have faithfully encouraged me and followed me on this journey, even while I was away from the forums. I look forward to continuing with this new adventure.

Hello. I'm back. I am Stronkey Kong. I'm still trying to figure this out. Last challenge took an early nose-dive. I was training with weights, losing my enthusiasm for my nutrition plans. Then I started stockpiling Halloween candy... You know how that ends, and now I feel shitty and I'm back to where I started at the beginning of summer. So now it's time to reboot, and reset a balance, and work on some goals that are satisfying too. MEDITATE -- Once a Day, Every Day: I actually broke my streak. I had meditated every single day since March 21st. Then last weekend, as I was preparing to shift my wake sleep cycle to dayshift for a week of training, I missed a day, then another, and it's been almost a week now. Anywho, it's time to get back on it. MOVE -- Everyday, As often as possible: I am not touching a barbell until my weight is down. To many here, that sounds like blasphemy, but I've proven to myself time and time again that every time I get into a strength routine, and go for too much strength or intensity, I either give myself permission to overeat or burn myself out. Right now, and until I get my weight down to... idk... 225 lbs., I just need to keep moving, lightly even, and I need to avoid the couch potato days. So every day I need to do some kind of movement, or at least get something done. I'll just be asking myself "Did I move today?" -- that is anything beyond getting up, eating, going to work etc. Chores and projects would count, purposely going for walks, yoga or stat bike in front of theTV... it all counts. Pay back the Halloween candy calorie debt -- I still have over 28000 calories to burn. NOOM -- Daily Tracking. Weigh in and track the foods. All else is optional. ART-- I am making a big painting, and started prepping a huge canvas... (spoiler'd cuz huge) 75 x 60 in. I have an idea and sketches, I just need to do it. Not sure what the goal is here. First and foremost work on the painting. Second, finish the painting. I have a feeling I'm either going to finish it Alla prima this weekend or agonize about it all challenge. We'll see.

Here we have it. I turn 48 on November 2nd. We have Halloween (My youngest doesn't care), and then my Birthday. My Dad's is on the 8th, but he is in another state. November 19th is the release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl! Thanksgiving is on the 25th of November here in the USA. All the things! During this challenge, it looks like my wife will be going in for surgery as well. She is getting the gastric bypass. She did have some other surgery years ago, but it didn't seem like they did much. There is also a stomach hernia they are removing. She'll be in the hospital for 2 to 3 days. Plus covid stuff, we probably won't be able to visit. We had planned to travel to my Sister-in-law's place for Thanksgiving, but who knows now. Lots in the air to get sorted. A side note, my wife will have to go on a liquid diet asap. Two weeks before surgery. Then 2 after surgery. She moves to soft foods after that. We have been starting to prepare, but this did just pop up suddenly. I don't think she will go in on surgery on my birthday, but will probably be going in on the 16th. We she was first trying to get things going, I toyed with the idea of doing the liquid diet with her. For support, but I would probably drop some quick pounds haha. Most likely, I won't be eating this way. So, it's not a challenge if there isn't lots of stuff in the air haha. I'm still going to attempt some goals. Hopefully, nothing gets too overwhelming. I can always adjust if I need. Time to build off of my previous challenge. Goal #1 - Make sure I get my rest Last week of challenge was a bit rough for sleep, and I haven't been super consistent this week as well. My goal is to get back to what I was doing. It just helps to give me the best chance at a successful day. Off to read at 10:30 PM. Then off to bed at 11:30 PM. In the morning, I need to wake up, and get ready. I usually give myself a little room for off to read, and off to bed. Going 1 point for each thing. 3 points per day, 21 points for the week. Goal #2 - Control food intake with tracking This will be the continuation from last challenge. Track each day in Cronometer, and don't go over calorie limits. This time I am going to be more strict. Like if I say 2500 is the limit, then 2501 is a fail. 2500 is pretty close to where I should be at. I think even 2300 might be better. First things first though, lets see if I can get a week of under 2500 calories. 2 points for tracking, 3 points for hitting calorie numbers each day. 35 points each week. Goal #3 - Walking with a side of workouts I got out and walked quite a bit last challenge. Much more then I had previously. I did max out at 20 minutes, but I can do more. Though, I don't want to just make it a time of moving. I might go on longer walks to play Pokemon Go. Then I don't have to worry if a stop to battle a raid or something. There also might be times to just do a warm up before actually working out. Yes, I said workouts. I want to start getting stronger again. The long time from now goal of doing a pull up is still there. Might as well start working on it again. I see this goal getting the most adjustments over the challenge. Hopefully, all in increasing things Week 0, I need to find, and finalize what I plan to do for workouts. I have my old workout spreadsheet I can pull from. My complex has a gym. Not the greatest thing ever. Lots of dumbells at least, and one machine that can do lots of different exercises. Also plenty of cardio stuff there. It's starting to get colder, and a few sprinkles of rain have been starting up. Week 1 I want to walk 5,000 steps each day. I also want to workout 3 times a week with one being in the gym. Workouts can be as low as 1 set of something this week. I mainly want to get myself doing the things, and start building it back up. If I do more, great! 3 points per day reaching step goal. 5 point for each workout done. 36 points each week. Goal #4 - Time to get through my cards and comics Part of a previous challenge, was getting things out of storage. We did get all the stuff out, and now I have boxes and boxes of cards. I also have comics too. The comics I need to organizes, and get bags and boards on the ones that are not done. All my sports cards need to be gone though. My Brother stole a ton of stuff from me back in the day. I need to see what I might have left. I know a lot of them are straight garbage cards. Like zero value. The problem for now, is they are taking up a lot of space. I need to sort out ones I will keep for now, then get rid of all the rest. It's just time consuming to go though some of them. I have a bit, but not nearly enough. I'll go with needing to go through 2 big boxes a week, or equal of the small sizes. 8 points a week Week total points: Week 1 (10/24 - 10/30) - 0/100 Week 2 (10/31 - 11/06) - 0/100 Week 3 (11/07 - 11/13) - 0/100 Week 4 (11/14 - 11/20) - 0/100 Week 5 (11/21 - 11/27) - 0/100 Challenge total points - 0/500 Measurements - Start / Finish (coming day 1) Chest - Waist - Bicep (L) - Bicep (R) - Thigh (L) - Thigh (R) - Weight - 364.1 lbs

Hey all, back again Seems like I just get in a mood, and bail on every challenge. I go and start pretty strong, then I'm suddenly it's just like my brain tags out. Then I end up just sitting there. With that, I'm going to still come back to try to fight it out. I even thought about just going with a one goal challenge to get the habits going. It's all going to be the same basic goals I normally have, I just need to get into the habit building. I want this challenge to be pretty fluid. My challenge goal is to get these established into being habits that I just do. I feel like I have setup it up to be very easy for me to do all of these things. As the challenge goes on, I hope to be able to add a little bit here or there if I need. Goal 1) Establish the sleep habit again. I feel like everything revolves around sleep. It's something I really need to get under control. It will matter for any exercise I do. It will matter for helping to make good mental decisions, including food choices. I've gotten back to too many 3am nights, getting up at 8:30, and staying lounging in bed to noon or later. My eventual goal. Reading at 10:30pm, bed at 11:30pm. Get up in the morning, and get moving. Friday nights, the wife and I catch up on our tv shows etc. It has gone into longer hours sometimes. I'll just deal with those when they happen. My goal will be to start off with going to bed at 11:30pm. Once I can at least do this, I can add back in reading and getting up right away. Hopefully, I can be at my goal before the end of the challenge. Week 2 addon - Get out of bed in the morning, asap. No more staying in bed for hours after I wake up. Week 3 addon - Get to reading at 10:30 pm 1 point per night. 7 for the week. Goal 2) Establish some exercise I have started bowling now, so at least there is something. I want to establish some exercise routine. Since the lockdown we all had, I just haven't been able to get something to stick. It will go well for a couple of days, then it all just goes away. I have gotten the code to our "gym" at our apartment complex. Nothing outstanding, but still, it has some things I can use too. Where I would like to be someday. Working out with weights 3 to 4 times a week. Also doing some walking/running again. Nothing major, but it would be nice to run multiple 5k distance a week again. I always have that eventual goal to get a pull up done, and then multiples Lots of that is far, far off for now. I need to focus it down. What can I do now, to help get me moving towards those goals? This goal is to walk. Everyday. Certainly, my brain say we can go right to walking 3 miles or more. I can't listen to that now. I did that before, and hurt myself haha. I get winded so fast now. All the extra weight, and lots of no movement currently. For now, my only goal here is to get out and walk for 5 minutes. Go get mail, or tale a loop around the complex. Whatever. Outside for 5 minutes, perfect. Going out to the store and walking around for 5 minutes, perfect. I don't care the activity, just as long as I am doing something. Eventually, I'll get the longer walks in, and playing Pokemon Go while I do it Week 2 addon - Get out for 10 minutes. More activity Week 3 addon - Get out for 15 minutes. Week 4 addon - Get out for 20 minutes. Any walking/workout activity for at least 5 minutes. 1 point each day. 7 points for the week. Goal 3) I need to establish some good eating habits I've done a few different things in the past. Keto worked well for me, I did whole 30 too. I've tracked what I ate without too many problems. I seem to go through phases where I just can't get something to work for me anymore. It's weird. I have been trying to incorporate better eating habits in recently. Lots of observations. Just I still sometimes just get overwhelmed with what I should do. I almost feel like having the structure of keto or whole 30 is what worked in my favor. Though, obviously not enough to still be doing that haha. I'm still working on trying to get in lower calorie/higher volume foods to help out. I'm starting to get myself eating more fruits and such. I'm going to work on tracking again. I'll switch back to myfitnesspal, just to have some bit of difference. I don't quite have a future vision yet for my eating habits. Obviously, I want to be able to eat the foods I like. work in progress for sure I suppose. Maybe eventually I'll work out to having more veggies or something. Or get back to food prep. Either way, for now, the goal is to simply track my food intake. MyFitnessPal shall be the app I use, but I will be flexible here. If I just even write it down, or take a picture, I'll accept it. I want this to just get me to be more aware of the foods I am eating again. Get back to seeing the portions I have. No real calorie goal, but for sure no 5000 calorie days haha. I'll check some sites to give myself a starting point, then adjust from there. Week 2 addon - Be below 3000 calories Week 3 addon - Be below 2500 calories Tracking food intake App/writing/picture. 1 point a day. 7 points each week. Goal 4) I need to stay active here. It's always more fun with friends, right? I don't want to go back to another challenge of checking in every day for a week, then suddenly decide I can't post because I had a fail day or something. That's really what gets me not posting. I keep the forum tabs open all the time. Sometimes I would just come and look around. I'd fully intend to post, but then just not do it. I don't want to say I have to post every day. At the very least though, I should post a few times a week. So my goal is to come and post at least 3 times a week. One post, 40 posts, it doesn't matter. I've also been an Ambassador for a really long time. I can recall the old days of messages with @Teros and others to divide up the threads, to make sure all people were at least welcomed in. This was before there was just rebels. The call has come out again from @Tanktimus the Encourager to help welcome others. I shall answer the call. I can recall my first time posting in the introduction forums. Just having someone reply to me was pretty cool. Especially, when I never expected anyone to even read it. I hope to help be that again for others. I don't want to overwhelm myself with too much there (did that in the past too ) I can for sure reach out to a few people though. Not one I would normally want to grade, but I want to make sure I stick with it. 7 points each week, posting at least 3 times each week. Challenge Point totals: Week 1 (09/12 to 09/18) - 26/28 - 92% Week 2 (09/19 to 09/25) - 25/28 - 89% Week 3 (09/26 to 10/02) - 22/28 - 78% Week 4 (10/03 to 10/09) - 23/28 - 82% Week 5 (10/10 to 10/16) - 17/28 - 60% Total challenge points - 113/140 - 80% Measurements Day 1 / Day 35 / Diff Weight - 370.2 lbs / 364.6 lbs / 5.5 lbs lost

So I've had my Walk to Mordor on hold for the summer, because I got really tired of tracking all my steps. But that hint of fall in the air is making me itch to get out and about, so I'm ready to hit the trails again! (Side note: the Walk to Mordor Adventure Party is currently celebrating the Baggins' Birthday Bash! Come join us for a commemorative sticker) When the Fellowship leaves Lorien, they know that they're quickly approaching the point where they have to decide if they are going South or East but they're not willing to split up yet, so they just drift in the current mostly. All summer I did a pretty good job of living in the moment, and even though the fall was when I originally planned to pick a direction and go, I've decided I'd rather drift in the current a little longer. So this challenge is going to be very similar to the last one, with a focus on reducing screen time and working to be fully present and enjoy what is going on around me. Here is the state of my garden: Athelas: My morning reading is going well. This challenge I want to focus on being more consistent with my breathing exercises and also add my vitamin back in. I've been feeling pretty lethargic in the evenings, which probably has multiple contributing factors, but adding in vitamins can't hurt. My horse was very lame yesterday, so my morning routine has been all off while I doctor him up, but there's already been considerable improvement, so hopefully I'll be back in the groove soon. White Tree of Gondor: I'm going to leave strength training on hold a little longer while I work on my barn, since there's lots of lifting involved there. I'm going to focus on walking this challenge, since I am getting back into my Walk to Mordor. The goal is going to be 7,000 steps every work day (I get lots of steps at home, but I don't move in the office enough) and 2-3 outdoor walks a week. To count as a walk, I just have to go outside with the express purpose of walking and soaking in the outdoors, it doesn't count if I get a lot of steps while doing something else outside, although that is a nice bonus. Old Man Willow: I think I've discovered that my problem with my evening routine starts right after dinner. I go sit on the couch for "just a few minutes" and often end up not really moving the rest of the night. So as soon as I finish eating, I have to go do something productive for 5 minutes. I'll tweak this as needed, but I think if I can avoid that initial post-dinner slump, I'll be good for the rest of the night. Party Tree: I have my last puppy class on September 18th and my small group starts meeting this Thursday. Also want to take one Sunday this challenge and go visit my friend Bud at his church. Two Trees of Valinor: I freaking love fall, so outside time shouldn't be an issue this challenge. As temps drop, though, I'm going to have to make sure I'm pushing the water. The goal is to empty my Wonder Woman bottle three times a day. To Do List: - change oil in truck - undercoat truck - remove truck bed liner - spray on bed liner - mow pastures (I want to do this in October, so if I don't get it done this challenge, I have two weeks left) - weed eat (rolled over from last challenge) - clean bedroom (also rolled over from last challenge) Barn Goals: - kickboards - temporary bracing - post extensions - headers - floor joists (this might be getting too ambitious, but if the weather holds, I should make it this far.)

5 weeks 5 goals 1. “Five a day” freggies goal! Been listening to a podcast about gut health, as well as reading other info about how to get more real food in to push out the junk. The podcast gave a very specific 5/4/3/2/1 breakdown that seems challenging but doable: ⏹⏹⏹⏹⏹ Veggies ⏹⏹⏹⏹/week legumes ⏹⏹⏹ whole grains ⏹⏹ fruit ⏹ nuts/seeds 2. Runner 5, report. ⏹ 5,000 steps per day. That’s to the bridge and back, make Sam proud. 3. 5 Noom articles. Aka ⏹“do your homework”. 4. high-5 your friends. ⏹ check in on NF, preferably post on a friends challenge, but minimum here 5. 5hrs max on the phone screen. Last week was up to 7hrs/day according to screen time tracker. ⏹ less than 5hrs per day on iPhone “screen time” average.

I've been looking for something more fun. I need fun stuff. I feel stagnant lately. And when I thought about it... I realized I have learned things over the past few challenges. Crime is fun. (Thanks, Leverage!) 1990s feminism was amazing and very stylish, and often had a good soundtrack. (Thanks, Voyager!) I miss traveling. Or even going to some damn art museums. (Thanks, pandemic!) When you add all that together, there's only one thing that needs to be said: Do it, Rockapella! For the hottest G-rated femme fatale crime boss of all time, she never quite got the TV show she deserved, but she definitely got the theme song we all deserved. Well she sneaks around the world From Kiev to Carolina. She's a sticky-fingered filcher From Berlin down to Belize And she'll take you for a ride On a slow boat to China Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Steal their Seoul in South Korea, Make Antarctica cry "uncle", From the Red Sea to Greenland, They'll be singin' the blues Well, they never Arkan-saw her Steal the Mekong from the jungle Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? She goes from Nashville to Norway Bonaire to Zimbabwe Chicago to Czechoslovakia And back. Well, she'll ransack Pakistan, And run a scam in Scandinavia, Then she'll stick 'em up Down Under And go pick pocket Perth She puts the "Miss" in misdemeanor When she stole the beans from Lima Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? (Oh, tell me where can she be!) Botswana to Thailand Milan via Amsterdam Mali to Bali Ohio Oahu Yeah, she flies around the globe, And she'll flim-flam every nation She's a double-dealing diva With a taste for thievery Her itinerary's loaded up With moving violations Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

We're going old-school this challenge. I am back on my game with 3+1 format, outlines, and checklists. In so many ways, I feel like I'm back where I started in 2012, and I'm taking my cues from the Universe about where my energy and focus needs to be: gym, healing, and my studies, just like my original challenges. Yep, everything else is still here and waiting: finances, legal stuff with my daughter, daily housework and life management. Here's the thing though: I don't care. I mean, I care enough and it will be dealt with as it arises, but it is not my focus, not anymore. I almost named this the IDGAF challenge. Still might. Tracking, because I like it, and it helps me stay present, centered in here and now, and also because I spend too much time on Twitter. Tracking my challenge is a much better way to engage with myself and my community. See something that you're doing too? If you want a daily accountability buddy, give me a shout. Nothing sophisticated and no shame, just simple "did you eat yet" or swimming emoji and reinforcement. Meages and I did this for sleep a million years ago, and it was fantastically helpful. Also, random #reasonsnottoquit, because I need them. Possible drop of random #HeidiKoan, because I need to remember them. Mind Maybe classes, maybe not. Figure that out. Read 1 book from the dissertation shelf each week .(Edited 8/3. There is no need for this structure or this focus. There are many things waiting, including the dissertation shelf. If I get to them, great. If other things are tugging at my sleeve, I'll deal with those.) Writing. I've fallen out of the daily writing habit and I need it back. Bonus: there's a fantastic bakery 3/4 mile away that I can walk to and then take over a table while I write. Body Eat Make something and eat it every day. Saturday vegetable pickup Weekly instacart for gap items and meatballs Wellness Wednesdays: Milk Acupuncture or Massage Everything after this is bonus, because I keep forgetting how deeply exhausted I am. The gym, daily. Anything below counts for bodywork. One star for going, because I'm not really motivated by stars, I'm motivated by results. Restore: sauna and hot tub and steam room. Daily weigh in Build: swim, weights, core exercises Walking. When I walk, I discover things. I don't know why, but it's true anyway. Back to that, preferably daily. For consideration: Flexibility: there's a free yoga class downtown twice a week, Monday evening and Friday morning. Friday was always my favorite. It would be neat to go again. Bonus: it's .75 mile away from the Loft, so walking is a real Possibility. Soul *Meditation. Five minutes? Fifty minutes? All good. Focusing more on #reasonsnottoquit and #HeidiKoans than on a formal practice. At some point I want to (re)consider (re)joining a T'ai Chi/ Qi Gong / Aikido class. This is not that challenge. *Sleep. I go back and forth on putting this at Body instead of Soul, but there's something going on with my Spirit that requires a lot of rest.