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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

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.

Challenge goals: Walk Meditate Study Bonus: Do logical things when there is emotional resistance. Stardate: Week 0 Day X Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Journal Fitness Vulcan Meditation Study Daily Schedule Planning Daily List Generator & Tracker

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.

Morning y’all! For anyone who doesn’t know me I am Rookie. A 31 year old who refuses to grow up and is constantly trying to live her best life 😂 My ultimate goal is to create a functional body that can last for a long time. Part of that puzzle would be dropping 60lbs. I love my 3 dogs, my horse Daisy and painting. So naturally my challenges usually turn into a show and tell. I hope you guys like pictures 😋 Goal: Lose 5lbs > Eat 1800 calories daily > Walk up and down the hill 2 times / week > Work through my “Riding Fear Free” book and do any exercises it recommends by the end of this challenge

Basically, I'm tired of Kathryn Janeway not being the most awesome thing ever, so it's time to go back with a rewatch and see if we can change that. This challenge: Captain's Log - Stuff is going on in my life, and I need my brain to work on it, so I will write it all down and create documentation. This is the "pics or it didn't happen" of the thinking process. Starfleet Fitness Training - Does what it says on the tin. Vulcan Meditation - Having Vulcan officers makes this hard to avoid. Ship Routines - Routines are hard, but ships run on them. I will try again. What Would Janeway Do - Take advice from Janeway during my rewatch.

Hey all, I am back to attempt a challenge. I didn't participate in the last challenge. I ended up bowling in my yearly USBC Open Tournament. This year (and next) is in Las Vegas. I totally was unprepared for it, but did much better then I expected I just didn't have it in me to get in on a challenge too. Life is a bit hectic. I've been struggling. 2018, keto was an absolute awesome thing for me. I've tried to get back to it. Sometimes it seems successful, but then it all comes crashing down. This challenge, I really want to see if I can just eat in a certain calorie range. Though, I still want to be healthier still of course. I just want to be able to eat whatever fruit I may want etc. So I really just want to focus on tracking again, with a set amount of calories. Of course, I really want to drop weight super fast. I think that really has not worked well though. I mean, I lost like 110 or 120 pounds in 2018. Struggled in 2019, then full blown gain everything back early 2020. Way back in 2013/2014 was a similar weight trip for me. Of course, it was a quick bounce back. So as much as I want to lose all the weight, I really thing I just need to focus more on a slower weight loss. Also working to just get myself better with exercise. All the things to work together will get me losing weight. So let's see if I can just get this started up. There will be a caveat here too. Like I said, life is a bit hectic. Wife might be losing her job (most likely). So she will be looking for work I assume during her transition out. Nothing confirmed yet, but there will be more Monday. With that, it is certainly time that need to get back out there, and get some work. I've been stay at home Dad since 2010, so no clue what I would even try for. This challenge could just totally implode, and I have to rethink the goals depending on what all happens. Goal#1 - Tracking, plus under 2500 calories. In the past I thought about 2300 calories was were I wanted to be at when I was eating keto. I'll have to monitor things to see if I need to adjust things up or down for calories. For now though, I want to target 2500. Preferable +/- 99ish. I don't want to under eat too. I'll track everything in Chronometer. 7 days a week. 10 points per day. 70 points total Goal#2 - Move more One thing for sure, I need to get out walking at the bare minimum. I felt that for sure when I was bowling. Day 2 I was bowling 6 games. I was running on fumes those last 3 games. Even less then fumes haha. To start, I am going to walk for 30 minutes each day. By the end of this challenge, I would like to be walking twice a day for 30 minutes, or an hour walk. Plus I want to be working out. Just body weight workouts, or all at homes style workouts. Week 1 I start with walking for 30 minutes (more is fine too). Week 2 I continue the walking. Week 3 I added in workouts with the walking. Week 4 is working out with more walking. Add in the second walk, or longer first walk. At least for a few of the days. Week 5, I get it all together. 7 days a week. Week 1/2 - 10 points a day. 70 points on the week. Week 3/4/5 - 70 points for walking each week. 40 points for workouts each week. (3 to 4 still need to figure it out) 110 points on the week. Goal#3 - Please go to bed! What do you know, I need to get myself in a sleep challenge again. Oddly enough, I've been staying up late reading. Before it was playing games, watching videos. I have been trying to work on getting to bed at a good time, but I haven't nailed it. I've gotten into a few books, and just would sit here reading for 3 to 4 hours. Suddenly, it's 3:30 in the morning haha. So no more "Just one more chapter" or "one last video" I want to get back to 10:30 PM to get off the computer or whatever, and get to reading. Then, head off to bed at 11:30 PM. 7 days a week, 10 points a day. 70 points for the week. Goal#4 - Chores and downsize Part of my move more is going to get into getting chores routine again, and clearing through things. Too many things in this apartment that we really just need to get rid of. We have a storage unit too that we should make our way through, and get rid of it. Less bills are good. Each day, I need to get cat boxes cleaned out, and dishes done. I need to spend at least one hour during the week on downsizing. I think it will be much more then that, but I just need a smaller time frame to just get started 10 points each day for the chores. 70 on the week. 50 points a week for the downsizing. (I really want to get though some things) 120 total points each week Total challenge points: Week 1 (6/20 - 6/26) - 0/330 Week 2 (6/27 - 7/03) - 0/330 Week 3 (7/04 - 7/10) - 0/370 Week 4 (7/11 - 7/17) - 0/370 Week 5 (7/18 - 7/24) - 0/370 Measurements - First day / Last day Chest - 55.98 in / Waist - 62.51 in / (L) Bicep - 17.83 in / (R) Bicep - 17.00 in / (L) Thigh - 30.78 in / (R) Thigh - 29.33 in / Weight (lbs) - 370.8 /

Suddenly the machine was wobbling... In a few hours the shops out there were expecting deliveries, and they weren't going to arrive. The government couldn't sit this one out. A city like Ankh-Morpork was only two meals away from chaos at the best of times. Every day, maybe a hundred cows died for Ankh-Morpork. So did a flock of sheep and a herd of pigs and the gods alone knew how many ducks, chickens and geese. Flour? He'd heard it was eighty tons, and about the same amount of potatoes and maybe twenty tons of herring. He didn't particularly want to know this kind of thing, but once you started having to sort out the everlasting traffic problem these were facts that got handed to you. Every day, forty thousand eggs were laid for the city. Every day, hundreds, thousands of carts and boats and barges converged on the city with fish and honey and oysters and olives and eels and lobsters. And then think of the horses dragging this stuff, and the windmills... and the wool coming in, too, every day, the cloth, the tobacco, the spices, the ore, the timber, the cheese, the coal, the fat, the tallow, the hay, EVERY DAMN DAY. And that was now. Back home, the city was twice as big. Against the dark screen of night, Vimes had a vision of Ankh-Morpork. It wasn't a city, it was a process, a weight on the world that distorted the land for hundreds of miles around. People who'd never see it in their whole life nevertheless spent their life working for it. Thousands and thousands of green acres were part of it, forests were part of it. It drew in and consumed... ...and gave back the dung from its pens and the soot from its chimneys, and steel, and saucepans, and all the tools by which its food was made. And also clothes, and fashions and ideas and interesting vices, songs and knowledge and something which, if looked at in the right light, was called civilization. That's what civilization meant. It meant the city. Was anyone else out there thinking about this? Was anyone important thinking about this? Suddenly the machine was wobbling, but Winder and his cronies didn't think about the machine, they thought about money. Meat and drink came from servants. They happened. Vetinari, Vimes realized, thought about this sort of thing all the time. The Ankh-Morpork back home was twice as big and four times as vulnerable. He wouldn't have let something like this happen. Little wheels must spin so that the machine can turn, he'd say. But now, in the dark, it all spun on Vimes. If the man breaks down, it all breaks down, he thought. The whole machine breaks down. And it goes on breaking down. And it breaks down the people. Terry Pratchett, Night Watch My machine is wobbling, and little wheels must spin so that the machine can turn. Right now, it all spins on me. If I break down, it all breaks down.

Well, he we try again. Last challenge things just went off the rails, and I couldn't get myself to get restarted. Car even got stolen haha. Luckily, nothing was damaged. Still a mystery as to how they broke in and drove it. Things have just seemed off with me. 2018 things worked well for me. Everything I seem to get going, I just end up failing out. With all that, I am still going to come back and try doing a little better then last time The goals are always similar or the same. I really just have to get myself in the routine of getting it done again. I'm actually thinking of talking to my doctor too. Check the hormones levels and such. I've been recently thinking it might be less depression, and more lower testosterone or something with me. Either way, I need to check with the doc to get some tests done. Then I might actually find out. So here we go with the challenge. Goal 1 - Sleep I know 100% that this is so important to my mental health, as well as physical recovery. When I decide to just stay up, I end up eating more things. Then I get even more tired for the next day. Then it's just a constant feeling of never being caught up, and always tired. I know my recent challenges, the sleep wasn't perfect right away, but it was getting better. Being heavier weight doesn't help either. SO better sleep will come as I lose weight as well as getting my routine in order. For now, I'll get back to what I was at before. 10:30 PM off the electronics, and start reading. At 11:30 PM, I need to head off to bed. I also need to get up right away. no laying in bed to play pokemon go or look around on the phone. 15 Points per day. 105 each week. Goal 2 - Eat I've debated over the last few weeks as to what direction I want to go with food. Keto has worked amazingly for me. It is restrictive somewhat though. I've watch lots of Greg Doucette, and he talks about low calorie high volume ways of eating. Which more of which sounds good, but still would be somewhat restrictive too. Both ways, I still would have to deal with the things the rest of my family eats. The days when my wife decided doughnuts should be bought, or whatever sweet temptations. All the times we we go out to do stuff, and it's decided to pick up fast food. I end up with nothing, and have to then come home and make myself stuff. For now, I am going to stay with Keto. I want to try to get my mindset like I had in 2018. I was faced with many a snack/food back then, but really didn't have much problem ignoring things. Keto will take a few days to get use to, and cravings to start to go away. It will help to get to sleep on time too Tracking Calories (2200-2400 max), under 20 g net carbs. 15 points per day. 105 each week. Goal 3 - Walk There is much I want to do. All the exercise. All the running. I just can't jump in full force yet. It's very evident to me whenever I just go to take out the trash and such. I'm going to focus just one getting out for walks. I need to test what my limits are, but I want to focus at least 20 minutes a day. Normally, I would have a rest day, but honestly, I am just wanting to keep moving. Hopefully, by the end of the challenge, I will have leveled up the walking to multiple walks per day, or much longer walks etc. The walking is super important for me to do, so I am making it a high point value. 20 points per day. 140 each week. Goal 4 - Check in daily, do the Mini challenge(s), get help with accountability The Mini challenge looks right up my alley. I've been wanting to declutter my area forever. I just never made much progress The mini challenge has everyone doing it. So I must participate. I also am joining the Weight Loss PvP group I saw @Rookie sign up for it, and it sounded like a great way to engage with everything. Lastly, I must get myself to post here. Missing a day isn't the end of the world, but missing weeks is not helping me in anyway. Not only myself, I can't be abandoning all the people here. At least 5/7 days posting here and working on the mini challenge will get me 15 points each week. Measurements April 28th / May 1st: Chest - 56.96 in / Waist - 62.40 in / Bicep (L) - 17.79 in / Bicep (R) - 17.04 in / Thigh (L) - 29.84 in / Thigh (R) - 29.33 in / Weight - 378.2 lbs Total Challenge points: Week 1 (03/28 -04/03) - 270/365 - 73% Week 2 (04/04 - 04/10) - 0/365 Week 3 (04/11 - 04/17) - 0/365 Week 4 (04/18 - 04/24) - 0/365 Week 5 (04/25 - 05/01) - 0/365 Challenge total - 0/1825

SYRRAN: [My name is] Arev. T'POL: That means 'desert wind'. SYRRAN: Does it. Why are you here? ARCHER: We could ask you the same thing. SYRRAN: I follow the path of Surak in meditation and study. Challenge goals: Walk Meditate Study Bonus: Do logical things when there is emotional resistance. Challenge Tasks Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Walk Meditate Study Cleaning Meditation Intermittent Fasting Logic Over Emotion (stretch goal) Yoga (stretch goal) Mindful Sleep Don't Forget Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Meds Mail Monday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Trash Tuesday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Wash (clothes) Wednesday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Food Friday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

I have thought about how to get out of my funk and found an easy cure: new beginnings are what I live for. so today I start a new challenge. the game is to get out of different wards in a hospital, win and move in with the girls or lose and dissolve slowly at "Shady Pines" orthopedic goals: walk a minimum of 30km each week. Do this just like last challenge, by hiking 2 to 3 times with dogs and friend and moving the dog daily. do an early evening session 3x/week of the NF bw circuit or kettlebell workout. I may be alternating those ... psychiatric goals ( addictions): back to the old game of limiting the cigarettes to 25 each day. bonus if I get down to 20 again! have 2 alcohol free nights per week, 5 days with little to moderate drinking 1-3 glasses of bubbly/wine eat veggies daily and stay in your caloric budget. neurological goals ( brain function ) do Duolingo French every day whenever you feel upset or hyper: meditate sleep 9 hours/ night ( this might seem a lot but Im taking medication that makes this necessary ) the cafeteria and garden goals: do something fun and creative 3x/week.. keep looking for a creative project tend to your garden see you guys tomorrow! ❤️

I heaved a sigh and glared at the thick, foul mixture eating through the bottom of my cauldron, aware that the other students were noisily packing up but mostly ignoring them. I was so sure I had followed the directions for Snot Sealing Potion exactly, but whatever mess had burbled up in my cauldron looked more like snot than the clear, refreshing lilac in the book. "Perhaps if you had paid attention to your homework, Elvenword," Professor Snape said languidly behind my head, making me jump and start cramming my books into my bag. "Yes sir, Professor," I stammered, and hissed "Scourgify!" as I hastily waved my wand over the vile mess. I'd have to review the instructions later and take better notes - exams were coming up and I felt hopeless in this class. Come to think of it, I felt a little hopeless in most of my classes, even though my marks were solidly average. Unlike most of the students who had arrived at Hogwarts as 11-year-old First Years, I had transferred in later. My parents were Muggles, and I hadn't even realized I could do magic until I was 15, much older than the average new student. So in addition to the history and literature classes that were appropriate for my Muggle grade level, I also took some classes with much younger students, like first-year Potions. As I scuttled out of Professor Snape's dungeon and headed back upstairs, I was startled by a faint, ghostly feminine whisper coming from somewhere behind the paneled wall: "Sky Elvenword ... Sky, do you hear me?" I froze in my tracks and the students behind me nearly slammed into me. "Watch where you're going," they snapped, and I melted against the wall to get out of the way, my skin prickling. "Peeves?" I whispered back, "is that you?" "No, Sky, listen to me. I need your help!" Other classes were letting out and it was getting too loud to hear. I pressed closer to the wall, uncertain whether I was being tricked or about to fall for a dreadful practical joke. "Who are you?" I said louder. "I can't tell you that now. After dinner, go to the northernmost corner of the Great Hall and use your wand to tap three times on the panel at your eye level. When you do that, a key will appear in your left hand. Use that key to unlock -" At that moment, someone crashed into my bookbag, knocking me off balance and sending two of my books flying off the staircase. I yelped and dashed down the stairs to retrieve them before the crowd of incoming Second Years trampled them; and by the time I had scrambled back to the panel where the voice had spoken from, it was silent. I gingerly tapped the wall. "Hello?" I squeaked. "Are you still there? What am I supposed to unlock?" But there was no answer, and the other students passing me were giving me strange looks. Reluctantly I tore myself away and hurried to get to my next class, but my heart was pounding. Who was the mysterious voice? Were they a good or bad witch? Why did they need my help, and what was I supposed to unlock with the mysterious key?

Hi, it’s me again! The way that I had this year planned at the end of 2020 went completely off the rails—and it wasn’t exactly in a bad way! But I’m still trying to catch up with all of these major life changes. To summarize: In late November, moved to our dream property, Owlshire. It’s a big, demanding lifetime project with some urgent issues that need addressing to create a strong foundation for future years. Luckily, I wasn’t working (outside of minding the toddler) and didn’t plan to start looking for a job until he started school.... Except in January, I was contacted (and eventually) offered an opportunity to get my foot into a dream job/industry. But it’s full time, new territory, and really demanding. We decided the pros of this opportunity outweighed the cons, but the cons still have costs XD I’ve not worked for other people in a proper 9-5 in over a decade. I’ve not held a job previously since I became a mother. Oh yeah, we’ve now been in a pandemic Lockdown for over a year and while we’ve had it pretty “easy” we’re still talking EASY for A PANDEMIC YEAR+ LOCKDOWN. Balancing act? What balancing act? So many dreams come true! It’s awesome! But also an ongoing pandemic! It’s exhausting! And, actually, while we’re supposedly on the road out of Lockdown, doing all this when we get back to having social lives and community again... is still going to mad. This challenge is more about assigning priorities and learning to juggle better, and a lot of my updates will be links to my Instagram, because that’s my current favorite and low pressure/effort place to document and photospam online. But I still love NF and want to keep connections here ❤️ More Deep Work/Focus Time in my day job Personal journaling Bujo Lite Gardening Walking/time in the woodlands Quality time with family Sleep (as is within my control with a toddler who still wakes in the night) Less Mindless Interwebs Getting caught in stress loops that affect my mental health but also my relationship with my husband and son Trashy stress snacking (These lists will evolve.) No metrics, really. I’m rubbish at keeping up with them. May edit this more later... may not XD

I have four goals this challenge. - Stay hydrated - Take meds - Go walking - Do kettlebell workouts I’m using Plant Nanny to track my water, and going with their suggestion of how much to drink. I have morning meds to take, and evening meds to take. And a pill container to keep track of them. I’m still trying to figure out the walking goal. But I need to be able to handle all the walking I’ll do once I’m working. For the kettlebell workout, I’m going to do that Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I found one online that starts at complete beginner and progresses to harder workouts. One problem I’ve come across with the kettlebell is that the workout I picked, and all the other beginner workouts I’ve found, have a shoulder Halo exercise. Which I can’t do at all. It involves moving the kettlebell around your head, and that type of movement make my shoulders pop, which hurts. I’m pretty sure I have some kind of joint hypermobility condition/syndrome, and I think that’s what’s causing it.

I'm still here, still putting in the work. Just time to redouble the efforts and keep moving forward. Not going to lie I'm not thrilled with my own lack of interactions of late so I'll be focusing on that with the new challenge. Running remains my main activity cause I've love it. quest 1 - going the distance Didn't get to double digits in the last two challenges but will keep pushing. Running is a high point of my day 90% of the time, so getting to run more is a good thing. quest 2 - limit the booze Still keeping this going - I've been doing a bit too much boozing thanks to the year long lock down. quest 3 - can't run then walk Morning walks are the other main activity in my life, I'll try to be more present with my wife during our strolls through the city and be mindful of what she's saying as well as having ideas to add of my own. quest 4 - get more social Feeling the distance between myself and friends growing all the time - will try to do one ping a week to friends to just try and catch up.

Tank summoned the Rangers on facebook to participate in the new challenge, so here I am! I posted in my previous unsuccessful challenge that I wanted to pick ONE of these little baby goals to do for a challenge: Daily mini walk Daily movement break during the workday (any movement), or doing the darebee daily dare challenge or a slight variation, a daily "step outside and sit for even just a minute" Daily work on studying Japanese even if it's just a minute or two (I pretty much entirely stopped studying when covid hit and I couldn't go to classes anymore) Daily toe touch stretch My "do one pullup attempt a day" mini goal has been enormously successful, so despite my urge to do all of these, I'm sticking to one. The pullup goal has been successful because there's a clear trigger - when I take my dog outside to pee, I attempt a pullup on the bar outside. None of these have an obvious trigger, so I think figuring one out will be the key to success for any of them. I'll choose walking since my very first NF challenge back in the day was walking. The goal is to walk any amount, even if it's 5 minutes. It helps that sunset is starting to get later so I have time to actually walk after work some days! I don't have an idea for a trigger yet and I don't want to overcomplicate it, so I'm just going say this is my goal for now: Walk every day for any amount of time

Big mood right here. With health, with finances, with everything. Quest: Lose 50lbs by Dec 31, 2021 [46 weeks] Progress: 0lbs Sub Quests: - Aim for 1700 calories / day Track calories daily Veggie or fruit with lunch + dinner 1 starch per meal (2 slices of toast, 1 cup rice, 1 cup pasta, 1 medium potato, 1 serving cereal) - 2 extra movements / week Good Morning Workout weekday mornings Cozy Up Sofa Workout once during work day Walks on Saturday + Sunday - Do something creative every day (paint, doodle, digital art) Passive Habits > 2L water / day > Floss + brush teeth every night This challenge is about pushing myself out of my comfort zone and trying to move forward (as it always is). I want to apply this to multiple parts in my life. I really want to keep chiseling away at the definition of my ideal life and what I will need to do to make that a possibility. In my ideal life I have a fantastic relationship with food. I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. I appreciate my food and enjoy every bite. In my ideal life I am a strong and able woman. My body is useful and can do many things. I get to spend more time outside doing active things and exploring nature. My gyms are lakes, oceans, forests, beaches, meadows, mountains, and deserts. In my ideal life Mr.R and I don't need to work a traditional Mon to Fri 9-5pm. We have time to do things we want to do and the resources in place to do those things. We live a flexible life where the jobs we choose to work are because we think they are fun. In my ideal life I am creative and make fun, bold, colourful paintings that invoke feelings of whimsy and nostalgia. I experiment and play with my art. Ideal Me I am continuing my goals for eating at a calorie deficit and getting more active minutes. I am asking myself a little mental checklist of questions when I eat... especially if it is impromptu snacking. On top of my 90mins of exercise from horseback riding I am looking to do 2 more active things (ideally this will add up to 1 extra hour of exercise). I am thinking my main form of exercises will be walking or DDR. Ideal Life I am taking steps towards getting other streams of income aside from my day job. I started investing in 2020 and last challenge I took the leap and set up an Etsy shop. This whole small business thing is scary but also exciting! It will help me gain money for my investments and I am hoping it will help burn some of my random pandemic energy which might help me snack less. Plus its creative! My first goal for the store is 160 sales so that I can use that money to purchase an iPad Pro + apple pen. That goal seems huge right now haha but if you don't try then it won't happen right? My very good friend was actually my first sale on Etsy! I am very appreciative towards her because this has been such a learning experience and now I only need 159 sales! I am also going to take my original art more seriously and really work on being more creative in my life by painting, doodling and making "sticker" designs. I am looking to get my online portfolio up and running and I can put stuff up for sale on their too. 2021-02-08: 250lbs (Zero week starting) 2021-02-11: 249.6lbs 2021-02-18: 252.6lbs 2021-02-25: 252.2lbs 2021-03-04: 248.2lbs 2021-03-11: 2021-03-18: Sales Goal: 2/160

As you know if you’ve been following the Tales of Owlshire, that—quite unexpectedly—I was asked to take on a full time, ~6 month narrative designer contract in January. Although I’d hadn’t been actively pursuing a return to the working world right now, this is career direction I had been hoping to go someday so we seized on the opportunity to make it work. It has rather shaken up our 2021 plans at Owlshire, but as we like to say in the House of Owlshire “a plan is just a place in which manage change.” In any case, now that I’m navigating full time employment for the first time since I became a mother and trying to continue developing Owlshire, I’m keeping it simple for this challenge: Storyteller Kick ass at my job. This is Living the Dream and I don’t want to wake up. 1XP per “Deep Work” (focused and undistracted) hour logged. The view is that it’s hard to sustain more than 4 hours of this on average so that makes a natural “cap.” (And somedays I need to do more fragmented, distracting work than others anyway.) Keeper of the Flame At least one Owlshire green or restoration activity a week. 5XP for the first one per week 3XP for each that follows Multi-activity tasks I’d like to conclude in this challenge: Plant seeds to start in the conservatory Ready the (reduced) vegetable garden for planting Sow early seeds into the garden. Help get all of the trees and berry bushes in (Mr is mostly doing this, but there are ways I can enable him) Map the Leylines Use regular walks and other exercises to: Walk at least 4+ miles a day. Build and maintain my PAI goal (10+ points a day until I get to 100 average, then maintain that average.) 1XP for each, 3 for the day if I make a combo. No XP cap on any of these goals—they’re focused in on my main priorities. I think this may be the first challenge in which Enting doesn’t play a big role, since he’s now in full time nursery school. One of those big changes from starting work! I’ll continue to aim for 200XP (total of 400XP) to get to level 3, if I’m getting close halfway by Week 3 (keeping in mind I start challenges in Week Zero), I will raise it. PS: Don’t worry, there will still be photos of Owlshire! We’re transitioning into spring and how can I not take a million pictures of that?!

I openly admit I got my title from a YT group whose Bible teachings I'm currently watching. Changed it a little bit, so as not to infringe on their name/title/rights... but this is what my challenge currently in real life comes down to: the good, the nice, the fun. Also... Rocco (my youngest son) is stuck on silly alliteration rhymes (eg. Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers...) and I guess it rubbed off FOR FAITH, FAMILY & FIREARMS Life threw us all kinds of loops this last two weeks, so I have to change my exercise schedule a bit. Still going to do my strength from last challenge, still going to try to walk (now with the boys), and still going to try to make time to play with Zuzu (better idea to get him to loose weight). Exercise: Strength - Wednesdays: Warmup: Jumping Jacks 30x Squat-Up-KneeXElbow touch 10x each side Walkout2HighPlank 3x Superset 1: do at least 2 sets, try for 3 Deadlift 10x30kg Dumbbell rows 10x5.25kg (both sides together) Jumping jacks 20x Superset 2: do at least 2 sets, try for 3 Bridge form - chest press 10x20kg Bicycle crunch 20x Finish off - Cool down: One legged deadlift 10x 5.25kg each leg Stretches Walking around the block - Mondays / Tuesdays / Fridays: Literally take the boys to walk around the block in between school work - once a day. Hopefully we'll get more than one day a week in, but aiming to start with at least once a week. Fun: Play with Zuzu - any day for at least 15min.: Zuzu is our sterilised Sausage X Big dog (vet thinks a Labrador), who is very muscular, but also overweight. I've been struggling to get him to loose weight via food changes, hoping that him playing with the other dogs, and the boys, would help, but alas... I'm also going to use this to get myself outside a bit more. He used to walk on a leash, but got such a fright when we took him walking shortly after adoption (two years ago), that I never tried again. Now he hates the leash. Spoke to the vet and she said to rather get him playing more in the garden with the other dogs and/or the boys, for now. Faith & Family: Bible study - listen every weekday morning (and some weekend days) to Bible lessons on YT. Washing/Laundry - wash and hang clothes to dry (dryer packed up) - iron if necessary. Finances - still getting into the routine of doing finances on new spreadsheets every Friday. Seems to be working, as I'm actually looking forward to it (I know! GASP! SHOCKING!) PERSONAL UPDATE: That's my intro to this challenge, hope to chat again soon. Have a good week.

I’m going to report how many steps I take each day.

After doing well for many years 2020 got the better of me. Heaviest I've ever been and first time over 100kg, I'm aiming to reestablish a walking habit and create a healthier relationship with booze. Limiting my goals so i can focus and get some momentum going. Goals: 1. No alcohol in January 2. Walk 20km a week 3. Avoid obvious sugar Side goal: 1. Complete part 1 of the weight loss pvp Weigh-ins: Start: 101.8kg (224 lbs) Week 1: 99.0kg Week 2: 97.5kg Week 3: 97.3kg Week 4:96.9kg Week 5: 95.4kg (210 lbs)

SYRRAN: [My name is] Arev. T'POL: That means 'desert wind'. SYRRAN: Does it. Why are you here? ARCHER: We could ask you the same thing. SYRRAN: I follow the path of Surak in meditation and study. Challenge goals: Walk Meditate Study Bonus: Do logical things when there is emotional resistance. Just three goals this time, but my head is feeling in need of a clear-out and my physical conditioning is feeling blah, so I want to hit those three hard, to see where I feel health improvements. I'm going for endurance on all three. My end goal for the challenge is two hours a day of walking (though a substitute of half an hour of yoga and alternate day half hour strength workouts will count towards the activity total if I want to mix it up with more mobility and strength), and half an hour of meditation per day. There are two things qualifying for study at the moment, one professional and one brain hacking. I'll count either, with a goal of two hours a day. I won't hit these goals right away, I'll be stepping up to them. No, they're not sustainable amounts of time long-term. But for a focused short-term reset, I think they'll be worth the time I put in. Like a deep spring-clean. The catch: My sleep, hydration, and food need to be fairly stable for this, and they're not. I'm hoping the increased activity will help stabilise my sleep, and the activity plus meditation will take down some brain focus issues that will improve my routines. But there's a hidden hydration reset and diet reset in here. I'm thinking about batch cooking on weekends to keep the diet reset from being a daily concern, at least. I'll be testing this a bit in zero week, though I still have a week of Hogswatch to go. Fortunately, there's enough overlap that I can run both simultaneously.

2019 into 2020 I really started struggling. 2020 was the full blown meltdown. In 2021, there will still be many things out of my control. That being said, it's time to get back to setting myself up for success. I've never been that big of a New Years resolution type person. In 2018 though, that actually worked for me. I setup up the goals. I had some motivation knowing that most people fail to keep up with the resolutions over the years. It was like I was in competition with the world to know that I was going to be one of the few to stick to my goals. Yeah, I still had struggles, but overall I felt like I won 2018. Of course, I am very much worse off now then I was going into 2018. I weight more I think, and so much of 2020 was spent just sitting here doing nothing. I tried to get moving, even with the covid stuff. I just lost too much average everyday things I did. We are still in lockdown here. I haven't bowling in 9 months now. I don't know when I might be able to even get out to do that. I'll most likely need to get some job this year, because things have gotten too tight. We might move. Lease for the apartment is up in August. I would love to get out of here. Many, many things in the air. Still, I can focus on thing I know I can control. I can control what I eat. I can control my sleep schedule. I can control my activity level. I do have goals. Some goals I have wanted to do forever. In 2021, I want to be able to run a 5k again. I want to finally do a pull up. I want to get back to under 300 lbs. (185-200 lbs is the true ultimate goal.) These all might be hard to see done this year, but they are all things to aim for. Ultimately, this is all goals to be stronger, faster, and just healthier version of myself. Week zero, I want to start getting myself back into building my habits. I 100% want to jump in and do all the things. I know that this is not a good way to go at it. One good challenge I had in 2020, was to set myself up for success. The goals to set myself up to win 2021 1) Getting the Sleep habits reset This may just be the most important goal. You wouldn't think so, but a good nights rest leads to so many positive things. I know when I have limited sleep, I very much feel it. It is much harder to concentrate and focus on tasks. It's much easier to give into eating or drinking things that are not good for me. Plus, I will start needing more rest when workouts come into play. I know that my sleep will also improve as I lose weight as well. Start settling down at 10:30 PM. Begin to read. Head off to bed at 11:30 PM. Now, I won't get to bed right at 11:30. I usually give myself 10 to 15 minutes. I check the door, set the alarm, and sometimes hit up the bathroom before bed. Goal 1 Points: 7 days a week. 3 points for reading started on time. 3 points for getting into bed. 42 points total. 2) Keto, Tracking, and hitting my Calorie target Keto doesn't seem too limiting to me, and has very much worked well in the past. It very much helped in 2018. It helps to control my hunger. It helps get my inflammation down too. I know some of it is water weight, but I notice it a lot in my legs. In general I do feel better while eating that way. Of course, maybe it's a lot of eating better foods, and not McDonalds or bad fast food too haha. As much as tracking can be a pain, it hasn't been too bad to me. It's quite easy when I am making my own things to eat. I need to figure out my target numbers in Week zero. Looks like I will aim for 2300 calories a day. This should be about a 20% cut vs 30% or more that I usually have been doing. Of course I want to drop as much weight as quickly as possible, but I think adds into me struggling later. I hope to take a bit slower approach, and maybe I can keep the weight off as my body adjusts to me being a smaller. Goal 2 points: 7 days a week. 3 points for under 20 net carbs per day. 3 points for tracking per day. 3 points for hitting within 100 calories of my goal (2300 Calories). 63 points total 3) Movement This is the start of getting in some exercise. This challenge, I am going to start off with a walking. Each day, I want to walk for at least 5 minutes. That's it. Nice and easy. My plan is to walk to a pokestop near out apartment. In total would probably be 10 minutes. I would feel more comfortable about walking around the apartment complex, but there are too many no maskers. I am going to leave this a bit open. I want to be walking longer times and/or more often by the end. I know before I jumped out and did a big 3.5 mile walk when I totally wasn't ready, and hurt my foot. I never really got back out after that. So this is the slow and stead approach. I will add in a back up plan incase of weather or some other problem. Plan B is to do check marks on my white board. at least 5 marks during the day. Eventually, I might combine these, and even assign tasks to each checkmark. We shall see how things go. Since this shouldn't be too tough on me, I am not going to have a "rest" day. If my feet are hurting or something, then I can default to doing the indoor checkmarks as my rest day. This walking will lead to more walking, then running at some point. Maybe, I can get back to hitting 10k step goals fairly soon. Goal 3 points: 7 days a week. 5 points per day. 35 points per week. Measurements - Start of Challenge / Challenge finish Chest - 56.57 in / Waist - 61.25 in / Bicep (L) - 17.71 in / Bicep (R) - 16.96 in / Thigh (L) - 30.98 in / Thigh (R) - 29.29 in / Weight - 377.6 lbs / Challenge Points: Week 1 (Jan 03 - Jan 09) = 129/140 - 92% Week 2 (Jan 10 - Jan 16) = 0/140 Week 3 (Jan 17 - Jan 23) = 0/140 Week 4 (Jan 24 - Jan 30) = 0/140 Week 5 (Jan 31 - Feb 06) = 0/140 Total points: 0/700

Storm Bella raged through the night. In the morning, Mr and the Enting did a boundary walk to look for fallen trees and other damage. While I cleaned up our breakfast and got a fire going in the wood stove, I considered what a strange and eventful few weeks we’ve had since we been called to Owlshire. Boiler and fuel supply problems, an historical flood, unexpected severe allergies to sections of the house, leaks in buildings, now a major wind storm... all within the already surreal year that is 2020. But the year was turning, and we’d made it through midwinter in the Forest, and there is much Keeping to do. Having received the prestigious new title Keeper of the Flame from the Home Office, I had a lot to prove—to them, to myself, and to the World Soul that reached her glowing fingers into this sacred place. — In summary: a 41 year old American emigrated to England. Mum of Enting, a 2.5 year old agent of chaos. Kitchen witch, gamer (mostly LARP, TT RPGs and board games), knitter/spinner, writer, returning smallholder. In late November 2020, my family completed a Master Quest to move from central London to our woodland dream property. Now we’re settling into our new home—dubbed Owlshire—in a beautiful part of the Forest of Dean. For this challenge, I’m focusing on a few areas I want to make progress in. Progress is measured on XP per task, but I’m also including maximums to keep balance among them so I don’t, say, just write stories the whole time instead of working on the garden or getting fit! WARNING: There will be picspam of Owlshire, surrounding areas, and Enting. Stoke the Hearth Fire 1XP per day engaged in a creative activity (probably woolly related, but may not be). This may also include events (spontaneous or planned) that similarly bring joy. Maximum per week - 5XP 2XP per day that I complete my household chore rota. No maximum. Keep 1XP per day per task related to future self-sufficiency - IE, continuing the set up the future gardens/orchard/etc., collecting or processing firewood, etc. Max per week - 10XP. Research can count, but only for 3XP per week maximum. Stay Strong 1XP each day I have PAI average above 50. No maximum. 1XP each day I walk 4+ miles according to my Fitbit. No maximum. Map the Leylines 1XP for local walks off my property, 3XP if I’m doing a new-to-me route. Max 5XP per week. If I participate in the Slow Ways launch week—no maximum for that week. Research can count (such as learning new flora and fauna in the area or looking into human history), but only up to 1XP per week. Restore 1XP per task related to restoring or preserving the outbuildings, fences, trails, and other infrastructure. Max 10XP per week. Tales of Owlshire 5XP per narrative story installment told on my thread. Max 10XP per week. Quests Bonus points received for completion of quests on my “Level Up Your Life” list. Goal: Reach 200XP to Keeper of the Flame Level 2.

Hello there friends. I have been gone a bit. In early September I ended up in the ER, thinking I was dying of a heart attack. Instead, it turns out I had advanced gallbladder disease that had been ignored for a decade, because every time I had sought treatment for the symptoms, it was dismissed as an anxiety/panic attack. I spent September thru December radically changing everything about my diet, and discovered that an aggressively low-fat, high-fiber diet is the best thing I could have done for myself in many ways. Wish I'd learned that years ago, really. I built myself up to walking 4.5 miles at a stretch, feeling great and doing well. I dropped 20 pounds and overall, felt pretty good. Sadly, a medical problem ignored for a decade does not go away so simply. Even though I chased away the worst of the symptoms, the root of the problem remained, a ticking time bomb waiting to send me back into the ER with another attack; or worse, rupture and sepsis, and a high risk of death. Two days ago I had surgery to remedy the problem, and now I am laid up and resting. In theory, I will be back to (mostly) normal in one week, with a full resumption of my strength in three weeks. Around the end of this challenge, in fact, which seemed serendipitous. So, I am here. Wounded, but unbeaten. Ready to convalesce and then reclaim my strength again. =============== Goals, goals! Right. It is a challenge, after all. 1) Walk 1 mile before 1/20 (my follow-up appointment) COMPLETE! 2) Walk a full 5k before the end of the challenge COMPLETE! 3) Lift my daughter on 2/1 (three weeks post-surgery) COMPLETE!