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RECAP: I love picking up heavy things! Have been doing so for the last decade, sometimes in competitions, but haven't competed since 2018. In 2020 to mid-2021 there was an 18 month complete hiatus from the iron (a combination of, you know, [gestures around] and also a delightful new addition to our family!) Since then I got back into lifting, and have spent the last year returning to fighting form. I have signed up for a powerlifting meet in November, so this challenge and the next will be focused on preparing for that. CHALLENGE GOALS: 1. Weight training 4x per week - I'm finishing a hypertrophy block now, I have a planned week off for vacation in mid August, then transitioning into a 12 week meet prep 2. Nutrition - I have been using Macro Factor app with great success for the past ~5 months, continue logging daily 3. Compete in the 181 lb weight class (lose 8 lb by November 13th) 4. Yardwork day on Sunday mornings - I did this last challenge and it worked so well at motivating me to actually get stuff done, bringing it back again!

My back / sciatica still hurts. I spent the weekend stretching, foam rolling, and laying on a heating pad. No yard work, no home projects, no errands. It was really weird not to do anything since I usually can’t sit still but I needed the rest and it was nice. Also it seems to have mostly worked, I can actually move around. Not completely pain free but mobile. This will be a rehab and reboot challenge for me. I really want to reestablish my exercise habit as well as try some new things. My meds and therapy seem to be working since I am starting to realize just how much of my mental bandwidth was taken up from dealing with anxiety, worrying about anxiety, and following rigid rules I made up to avoid anxiety. Opens up room to think and breathe about other things and even things that I might want to do and be. This challenge will be Breath of the Wild themed since I feel like Link, just waking up after a long sleep, weak but starting to remember what a badass warrior I used to be and will be again. EXERCISE HABIT I will be following a 30 Day Workout app. I have it set to Easy mode so the workouts are super short but the exercises are not the point. The point is the daily routine. Every 4th workout will be yoga for the back / sciatica. Finish 30 Days Yoga every 4th day EATING HABIT My eating has been full ham lately. Going to dial it back a little and I have never lost weight with intermittent fasting but I do enjoy a little bit more mental clarity and morning energy while doing it. Finish water bottle by 10:30am First meal after 11am VANITY A little bit of fun because I am feeling adventurous. I will grow a beard. No real reason other than I want a change and maybe this’ll be one. I’ve never had one before so not sure what it will look like. The longest I have gone was 3 weeks of a quarantine beard before quitting due to social pressure from my wife. Another vanity goal is biceps. Going to hit the curls with HFT after my daily app. May work, may not but we are doing this. No shaving for 4 weeks Arm work after main workout MENTAL HEALTH Not part of this challenge, more of a forever challenge. I am doing so so much better and just want to stay mindful, follow the guidance I have / am getting and keeping up with my medication. If someone else is suffering from anxiety and you haven’t looked into getting help then I urge you to do so. I feel so much better and I can’t believe that I waited so long to do so.

After spending several days of practicing how to fight in her new body, Scalyfreak says a warm farewell to her paladin friend, and continues her travels. He has his own battles to fight, just as she does, the way it always has been, and as she follows the road in front of her up into the mountains, Scalyfreak reflects on how the two of them always seem to run into each other when one of them really needs help. The strange timing of it all amuses her, and makes her wonder if there might be some other forces at work controlling their fates, not merely the plot scrolls. The road is splitting up ahead, the path to the right going further into the valley, and the one on the left going up along the mountainside. The valley path is smooth, with no weeds or grass growing in the hard packed earth. The path to the left is narrower and a little uneven, with large rocks here and there. Scalyfreak stops just at the spot where the road splits in two, looking back and forth between them. The path to the right is clearly the more popular one, and from what she can tell it leads to a settlement deeper into the valley, known for its hospitality towards travelers. The one to the left, just as clearly not used nearly as often, leads higher up onto the mountain itself, towards what appears to be a quite spectacular view. The decision is an easy one. Scalyfreak turns onto the path that's less traveled, and begins to climb the mountain. Before diving into the “few and small” goals for this challenge period, here's a brief “intro” for anyone who doesn't know me very well: Recover HP (physical health) I am still attempting to build a regular exercise habit, which has been a lot more challenging than it has any right to be. Procrastination has been working hard to throw up obstacles and has been largely successful in preventing me from getting anything at all done towards this goal. So clearly a new and different approach is needed. I'm going to shamelessly steal this new approach from @Tanktimus the Encourager, and simply go for consistency above all else. My new goal is to do one exercise every day. That's it. If I do more than one, that's a great bonus, but I will be using a very simple strength program from Darebee, so I don't have to put a lot of effort into creating the program, because that has been an obstacle in the past. I also deliberately chose a beginner program, because they use simple and easy exercises that Self-Sabotage can't use against me. And I'm typing this during the breaks between circuits in Day 1 of my new program. Restore Mana (Mental Health) To absolutely no one's surprise, this goal is all about meditation. Daily meditation needs to continue. Regenerate Stamina (emotional bandwidth) This goal remains vague, but I'm trying to make it less so. For the remainder of this challenge period, this will require me to do at least one daily activity for no other reason than because I know I will enjoy it. Today, it was to go to the small nearby park with Husband and Happy Sidekick, and alternate between sitting in the shade and talking, and getting up to play with Happy Sidekick in the shade.

Good day, everyone. Since I've been itching to pick up heavy things and to build strength for months, I found it was time to visit the Warriors. I've had a number of visits with the physiotherapist in my new city of residence. (I moved in March of this year.) She found it was wisest for me to focus on overall fitness with my current pains. We had a couple of sessions in their gym. Then I got a contract at the gym she apparently works at, and she was enthusiastic to make a plan for me. (I chose her because she is also a sport physiotherapist, and that's what I want. To allow my body to not only be able to weather my desk job, but also to allow me to do the exercise I enjoy again.) The making of the plan will be soon, though with a colleague of hers because of calendar inconveniences. I very much look forward to it. This is the paragraph in which I'd like to put up a bit of a trigger warning. As written below, I'll try to focus on recovery rather than (over)analysing my past, but I haven't had the most easy life. Not the most difficult, either, but it's possible there will be some pretty heavy negative thoughts in my thread here and there. Specific topics include: - A mother who abused me mentally, emotionally and physically in both the typical abusive mother ways, and typical abusive father ways. Dark humor ahead: - Also me showing signs of my co-dependency in the way I speak of feeling like a failure that I couldn't help my family members stop abusing each other, couldn't help my mother see she needs help, couldn't help her myself, etc. - Passive aggressive bullying by children in my youth - Co-dependent relationships, one of which was verbally and emotionally abusive towards me, one of which we didn't abuse each other but we constantly struggled with attachment and he had an abusive mother on an even higher level than mine Something about my physique and how I view it I am hypermobile, so my hands, ankles and knees far from always corporate with me when I want to do the Grand Things my brain wants to do. I build muscle faster than one would expect, but it does cost some effort and even more to sustain it. I'm 5'2", but I constantly forget it, and when I do, and I'm having a particularly rough body day, the discrepancy between the way I feel mentally and what I feel physically is often quite jarring. This was already the case when I was a teenager. When I had heavy depression symptoms in my late teens, I gained weight and I noticed that made me feel quite good about myself. Losing that weight and gaining it back again during the pandemic made me realize I feel best when I've just tapped into the "overweight" part of the BMI range. More makes the skin behind my knee hurt and my joints and weak ankles ache. (Though I wouldn't be opposed to making my body stronger and gaining another kilogram or two.) Gotta say it was very interesting noticing how easily I let go of short-lived worries I have too many fat rolls as a teen, to realizing I actually want more. Moar squishiness! (if my body can handle it, which it can't as much as I want it to, so there's that.) I used to not go for it because "oh no my belly will get bigger than my tits because they fall very heavily sideways and their full size is rarely visible" but I don't really care anymore. If my body can handle it, 1-2 kg and no more.... Only because I'm done getting my style just right and then having to get a new wardrobe for as long as I can help it. (Moreover I was worrying for nothing. They aren't a balcony on top of my belly but there's still the form. And more, when I see women like that, I don't think I'd mind if it'd happen in a few kilograms. It's a body. It needs to feel good for me, as long as it's not hurting my health.) Right know I've lost 4-5 kg since that highest weight point during the pandemic that made my body ache, and am pretty stable at 64,5-65 kg. It'd be cool to have a bit of a strong, "bulking" look. The stage of life I am at right now I've been raised by someone who feels the need for others to be dependent them and that is not what forges a fighting spirit or good armor, does not teach one how to build a proper armor and castle. Not when the person being raised is wired so that they can only fight for a cause they believe in, that they can stand behind, and they otherwise generally have a predisposition to turtle up and hope that those that want to recruit her will stop seeing her potential and leave her alone. Fortunately, one can forge her own spirit. She can take all of the tools and skills that have been given to her to fight for causes she does not believe in, and use them for the one(s) she does. That's where I am at right now. The phase of rebuilding myself after/during(?) a rebellion that was long overdue, that I thought was unnecessary with my rather pacifist mentality. Now, there's a lot more back story, a part of which can be found in the thread I linked above... But it has been exactly one month since I sent my family an e-mail in which I told them I'm breaking off contact and I would be the one to take the initiative for contact, and only with a mediator/relationship therapist person. I find that I should try to actually heal instead of going over all of the painful and/or traumatic things that relate to my present-day issues. Learning to not expect an attack on my autonomy or sense of belonging from every corner, and how to not attack those myself as well. I may be asking more of myself than I am capable of, since I'm actively working on obstacles that were placed in front of me starting from a baby that a child shouldn't be expected to deal with, but I do strongly believe that looking towards the future, and towards what I want, will help me more in defining WHO TF I AM than keeping on referring to the past in my mind.

Better late than never? At the end of this challenge we'll get the keys to our new house. I'd very much like a fresh start in the battle against chaos and clutter, which means that we should not move all of our stuff with us. While prepping for the move I'd also like to maintain my tenuous grasp on sanity and not completely lose all the progress made against chaos and anxiety* these past few months, which means keeping up with the things that help with that aka exercise, gardening or otherwise being outside and attempts at bullet journaling. Decluttering: - block out time for some major work together with Jaap - tackle clothing (mine and the kids) and paper clutter on my own - throw away 5 random things every day Maintaining grasp on sanity: - run, lift kettlebells and strength train twice a week each.. but try to be content with at least once - do 5 min of work in the backyard or the garden every day - just brain dump in my bujo, anything else is bonus, but just brain dump as often as possible *The good news is that last Monday during our holiday I spend 4 hours catching up on admin stuff that I've been avoiding for literally months. I had build up a nice block against doing some of the things and somehow broke through all of that in one sitting. If only I could bottle some of that magic!

Hi everyone! I'm Waanie, I like lifting weights and being upside down (not at the same time though!). I wasn't sure if I should do a challenge this round, but here I am. Next month might or might not be crazy, which means that setting appropriate goals is hard . 🦉Main goal: Do not disappear . You guys are all great, and I get genuinely happier when hanging around here. If my other goals interfere with me coming here for whatever reason, I will change that goal and come right back. Update here at least twice per week 🏋️‍♀️Keep on lifting Lifting heavy thing is cool. Seeing numbers going up is great as well. Last week, I did a max deadlift of 100kg and the week before that a squat of 60kg. In October we'll have a "MAX"-day at the gym, where I want to beat those numbers . Go to the gym 2-3 times per week 🍴Eat more protein Eating enough protein seems to be hard. I'm not tracking it regularly, but I noticed that my muscles are not recovering as they should. I've started drinking a protein shake in the morning, and that does seem to help, but does not feel like a smooth enough habit to be sustainable. This challenge I want to try out some things (preferrably plant based) to get in more protein without effort. Try out a new protein-heavy thing for breakfast, lunch or snacks every week 🧘‍♀️Get more limber My body feels so stiff all the time. I have plenty of resources available, it's just hard to do it. No zero-days wrt stretching/mobility. When in doubt, do molding mobility.

Harriet's Year of Battle The objective: to gain the mountain and obtain the precious treasures of lifting, writing, painting, walking, cooking and spirit work. The enemies: fatigue, emotional resistance, distraction addiction, hopelessness The weapons: axe of strength, sword of courage, staff of clarity, reflective shield ---- Fifth Skirmish: Another Stab at Meditation All right. I am adjusting to the fact that I have limited forces and the best strategy is to take and hold small pieces of territory, not to declare war on entire continents, oceans, and outer space. Reflective Shield: Meditate fifteen minutes I want to build up a much longer and more consistent meditation practice, because there are evidence based reasons to think it can help with anxiety, fatigue, and brain fog. Fifteen minutes is long enough to see a nice effect, but not so long as to be intimidating. It should be done daily, first thing. Staff of Clarity: Adjust the internet block I promised myself I would free myself of internet addiction this year. I made a start last challenge with a two hour limit on my desktop, but that allows me too much leeway: I can check the internet, then turn it off, repeatedly and all day long. This keeps me in the distraction addiction state. So I will adjust the ban: internet after 7pm only, unless there is some administrative need. Axe of Strength: Rest fifteen minutes I am coming to terms with the fact that diet will likely not cure me. I am now turning my attention to pacing, which can be extremely and unpleasantly strict if done correctly. I can’t face that, so I am just going to create a tiny new habit: rest for fifteen minutes after walking, grocery shopping, or the gym instead of diving straight into computer, reading, etc. That’s it. For the gym, I will rest AT the gym after my workout, AND at home after walking back. Sword of Courage: Letters from Source I have begun a practice from The Artist’s Way that supposedly helps heal creative blocks and reduces resistance to creative practice. I will continue this. It just involves typing a page of whatever is on my mind, each morning. I call it letters from source. Maybe it will alert me to themes in my life that need attending to, or help me shed mental clutter, or put me in touch with deities or the miraculous source of nature. Who knows. ... I will also try to get to the gym, of course, but I think my idea of increasing frequency to four or five days a week was outrageously stupid and born of denial. I’ll go three times, keep the volume even lower than I think it needs to be, and maybe use the sauna. I need a consistent habit before I can even think about increasing. And to get a consistent habit I need to stabilise the push-crash cycle which means not doing the stupid push bit.

Hello all. I have missed a few challenges here lately but I haven't forgotten about everyone here. I wish I could say that the time away has been productive but the honest truth is that it has been rough. I have struggled with anxiety for a long time but it has steadily gotten worse over time until it was really impacting my daily life very negatively. I have stubbornly resisted any professional help, medication, or really even admitting it is even a problem to anyone, preferring a stoic facade and suffering in silence. After having multiple panic attacks in a week I finally had to admit to myself that I needed help and couldn't do it alone. I finally reached out and got councling and medication. The meds help immensely and my anxiety is not completely gone but it is at least not dialed up to 11 and I can put some distance between it and myself and be objective about things. A nice side effect is suddenly I am sleeping like a rock. Getting enough sleep has always been a struggle for me. I guess I should have guessed that my anxiety issues were a part of the problem but it never occurred to me. The councling has just started so TBD at the moment. Challenge Goals 1. Mental Health Obviously the main goal right now. Get dialed in with meds, councling schedule, and work with the exercises that she is giving me to help with anxiety. 2. Exercise I haven't been completely sedentary but I have lost a lot of my prior strength and muscle. Goal is to get back into a regular routine. Barbells always make me feel better. Sorry to puke out all my issues in my challenge but I am making a effort to be more open about what is going on with me here and in the real world which is terrifying but part of my issues.

I am back! I have a slight lull in the crazy that is my life, so hopefully I can use that to get enough of my good habits established that they don't completely fall apart when the crazy hits again. What am I going to do this go-round? -Eat 80% healthy. I currently have a slightly fuzzy definition of this, but I am ok with that right now. Aiming for lots of veggies and not too much sugar. And no fast food. I have a new tool to make tracking that easy, and am currently sitting at 67% on track, so I've got some work to do here. -Exercise every day. This time, to include weight lifting a couple times a week! (Hi Warriors!) My "gym" in the basement is starting to come together. Literally, as I have a bunch of stuff I'm working on assembling (goal is to have it all done by the weekend). I have added a super cheap squat rack with a pull-up bar, that's currently halfway assembled. It joins the (not yet assembled) bench and elliptical machine my grandma-in-law gave us. What I am most lacking is weight plates, but those are super expensive. I think I currently have 35lbs total that I can add to my bar, which puts the most I'll be lifting for a while around 70lbs (I have a 33lb "women's" bar, because I like the smaller grip size). So, no huge gainz anytime soon, but hopefully I can gain some consistency. Other days are going to be a mix of roller derby, pilates, and/or swimming. Super simple, but hopefully effective and at least slightly crazy-proof.

Alright, I mentioned last challenge that things are going to be tough for a bit, so really what I'm focusing on is consistency, and that hasn't changed this challenge. It very much has felt like this: Long story short: We're looking for senior housing for my Mom while also moving in to her place while we renovate. This is pretty far off the original plan, so it's been a lot mentally for everyone too. We're excited, and things are still fairly chaotic at the moment, but we are finally at the point in this major life upheaval where we have figured out the major plan, and now just have to make the plan happen. As of right now we don't really have any major roadblocks, just inconveniences, so things are looking up. The things I've been able to keep up the last few months: --> gallon of water a day --> veggie with every meal --> daily walking And I'm going to keep those up, but not make them specific goals. Things I've struggled with: --> Making it to the gym (but I have gotten a gym membership, and will be getting a second that's closer now that I know we'll be here longer than a month) --> Yoga/Mobility (and I'm feeling it) --> Making time for myself/to relax --> Finding a routine/schedule So going to change things up a bit: 1) Spellbooks, Spellbooks, Spellbooks - weekly and daily planning, every single night/morning. This is the only way I can make sure I get in the things I'm struggling with, so it needs to be number one. 2) An hour of movement every day - This sounds like a lot, but the following count here: my morning walks (currently at around 32 minutes, so really I could go for 2 walks and this would count) the gym or a home strength workout painting a room or a renovation project yard work yoga etc. Since the gym is a good 20 minutes away, it's hard to get there right now because for a 20 minute workout that means I'm gone for an hour, minimum. Because of that, I don't want to stress too majorly about making it to the gym quite yet - especially since there are a ton of super physically demanding projects here that need to be done. (And one of those projects is build a roof on the garage so we can have a gym at home.) 3) Stretching every single night - My body hurts. This is a necessity, and we finally cleared the space so I have room for a yoga mat on the floor. 4) Get outside every afternoon. It can be for a walk, movement, the gym, or to run an errand. I just have to spend some time outside every day and take a break away from things. I know this seems like a weird one, but it makes a huge impact. 5) One night off a week to focus on relaxing and me things This is going to be the hardest goal, tbh. On a side note, I'd like to lean in to the forums a bit more this challenge, so I'm going to add daily forum time into my spellbooks. Alright, that's it! good luck y'all

I'm gonna try this challenge thing again. Previously I was a Ranger that liked to try all the things and especially liked Mudruns/OCRs. Then I got a new job that had me working insane hours 4 months out of the year, then COVID hit, then COVID never ended. OCR's in my area have pretty much completely died (there's one left) and even if they hadn't, I can't run at all and can't muster up the desire to work at it (I never liked running, I just did it for the OCRs). On top of that, my kickboxing gym suddenly shut down last month. I'd been going there for 3 years and loved it, but that's done for me too. Well, now I still work insane hours 4 months out of the year, but now I work half time the other 8 months. I also moved to a house that finally has place for a home gym so in the last few months I've bought myself a olympic barbell/weight set, power rack, and bench. So I guess now I'm a warrior that picks up heavy things and puts them down Overall Goals Lose fat - I'm about 40-50lbs over where I want to be. Some of the jiggly bits needs to go Get strong - I'm also a fair bit weaker than I want to be. Something something crush my enemies Get muscles - Seems redundant but this is an aesthetic goal, not a performance one. I want something to actually happen when I flex my arm Challenge Goals Food - Eat around 2000 calories a day. My TDEE is around 2300 so this is a reasonable deficit Lift heavy things - Do that 3x/week. I have a Push-Pull-Legs/shoulders split that I've tweaked from a program a trainer gave me and is nearly honed in to something that works well for me Strengthen the core - my core is very weak which is causing problems with my hip flexors (plus it's just embarrassing how weak it is). Find a routine that I will actually do 2x/week that will make this better

I caught the tail end of the last one but this is technically my second challenge since I've become disabled 4.5 years ago. Keeping it the same as the last challenge-if I push it too far I'll end up making myself ill. So: 1. Workout at least twice a week. Just doing the warm up and cool down counts, what's important is consistently working at reversing the muscle atrophy. 2. At least 1000 steps a day, even when I've had a big day the day before and I'm exhausted. Should be easier now, my new walking sticks are steadier/more solid. 3. Leave the village at least once a week for something that isn't an appointment. Started this challenge off with a bang-it was Pride this weekend and I went to a last minute dinner with my brother last night, so I'm a bit exhausted today, but proud of myself for making it through even if I did push myself too far and have a seizure in a restaurant 😂 don't worry I'm fine, it's normal, but I did freak out a waitress! 23rd: 4927 steps and Pride 24th: 3514 steps and dinner 25th: 1164 steps and just the warmup and cooldown.

Last Challenge Review ✨Achieved✨ Did all my planned exercise every day and noticed improvement in my strength! I'm almost repping at my old bench max! Completed the following Nerd Fitness Quests: ✅ Find a coach: Started with a Nerd Fitness Coach and even went through a switch over to a second coach when they left to start their own business. ✅ Film your main sets for one workout ✅ Learn to do a Backward Roll: Completed some Assassin quests even though I had convinced myself I couldn't. ✅ Learn to do a Forward Roll ✅ Complete a line of 20 Walking Lunges ✅ Complete 50 bodyweight squats in 2 minutes ✅ Learn to do a Cartwheel: I can still do one! ✅ The 50/50 squat challenge: Plucked up the courage to use gym exercise equipment I had been to shy to use before and learned how to use it by myself or asked for help. ✅ Squat .75x your bodyweight ✅ Complete 5 Assisted Pistol Squats (Each Leg) ✅ Deadlift 1x your bodyweight ✅ Work with a coach on a personalized program ✅Get an A on your 4 Week Challenge ✅Complete 3 4 Week Challenges in a row: this is my 3rd in a row! Stuck to my nutritional routine. I was ordering food from a healthy delivery service, but it got me on track Re-introduced carbs into my diet and upped my calories to 1600 daily without gaining weight Cut down my caffeine intake massively Getting a hold of my anxiety through a really tough start to the month Started work on medical check-ups despite my fear of them. Started new work contract despite stress around it and I'm doing well at it. 🐾Attempted🐾 ⬜ Research historic lifters and their style: I started reading Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopaedia of Modern Bodybuilding, but I ended up not prioritising when worked started, but I would like to keep reading. ⬜ Bench press .5x your bodyweight: Still improved my PB by 3kg. The journey continues. ⬜ Farmer’s walk with .75x your bodyweight: Didn't get a chance to re-test. My dumbbells at home don't go high enough so have to try at the gym. ⬜ Complete a Wall Walk: I got to the point I could walk my feet up the wall but was too scared to bring my hands in closer. Need a spotter. No progress on this. ⬜ Pick a program and stick with it! Waited for my coach plan. I'm going to consider this achieved by the end of next challenge cycle. ⬜ Take a Hip Hop Dance Class: I researched this but covid kept getting in the way. Maybe I need to find an online solution. Didn't finish renovating the office ❄️Didn't Work❄️ ⬛ Fitness: Pushup: Still a while away from this but going to keep trying! + Fitness: Double Unders: Didn't attempt- still seemed such a bother + All the snatch, squat jerk, overhead press, clean, clean and jerk, push jerk, split jerk, and push press quests- on pause until I gain more muscle and can attempt all these safely. + Learn to do a One Handed Cartwheel: feels like my body weight is too high still at the moment so on pause Bedroom ended up being a mess. Remembering to take my multivitamins every day. 💫Change Up💫 Ended up entering my meal planning into here, and Nerd Fitness Coaching app, and MyFitnessPal. Too many places to update and yet still didn't feel across it each day. Challenging myself to exercise every day including rest day walks. With my current fitness level- walks or stretching could be optional for less pressure. + Noticed some joint issues by the last few days. Need to starting using my rest days more efficiently. 🥊Upcoming Challenges🥊 Have to get an endoscopy and colonoscopy on Aug 2 for cancer checks. (I'm probably fine.)

Greetings nerds. Last challenge I started lifting weights, and it's going well and I like it. I'm going to continue until the last week of this challenge, at which point The Youths will have returned to campus and be filling the gym so husband and I shall be re-evaluating our exercise routine — the climbing gym is on the table, and I was briefly possessed with a need to do trail running the other day, so we'll see where we go when we get there. We're lifting on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I'm either doing yoga or walking on the off days. Every day, I need to do my PT/physio exercises, because without them I will get injured doing barbell work. That's it. That's the challenge. Keep calm and lift heavy things. please accept this Aloy gif that has nothing to do with my challenge except that I do find swimming very peaceful at this stage in my life.

After spending hours practicing with her still unfamiliar body, Scalyfreak is forced to take a break to catch her breath. Resisting the urge to scream at the heavens in frustration she sheathes her rapier with somewhat more force than necessary, then just as quickly draws it again when at the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind her. The maker of the footsteps stops, hands lifted in a placating gesture, and Scalyfreak immediately recognizes the armor as well as the body language. “You know it's rude to sneak up on people,” she snaps, as she once gain sheaths the rapier. “I coughed twice, several minutes ago,” the man in full armor responds, and tilts his head to look closer at her. “You look... different. Plot scroll?” Scalyfreak sighs and nods, with a gesture down at her new attire and weapons. “It's an adjustment,” she admits, and turns towards her small camp fire to start heating up water for tea. The knight follows her and takes a seat as well, and listens patiently as Scalyfreak vents and rants out all her frustration at the stupid fucking plot scrolls and their unreasonable demands. She is especially resentful that the scroll sent her straight at Self-Sabotage without giving her any time at all to get used to her new body and its abilities. “Well, that explains my scroll then.” For once the blue eyed knight interrupts Scalyfreak rather than let her continue to vent, and chuckles at her surprised expression. “It said to go to this clearing and fight the person I found here. I wasn't exactly happy when I realized it was you, but now it makes sense.” “Of course you weren't, I'd kick your ass. Well, I would have,” Scalyfreak amends, but her smile is genuine now. The sheer relief of having her friend near, to not have to face either Self-Sabotage or Stress Hydra on her own, makes everything about her uncomfortable situation seem a lot less bleak. “But since we obviously aren't fighting each other to either death or first blood, how does that make sense?” “Well...” Her paladin friend pauses for a moment, seemingly to search for words, then shrugs. “You need to practice against someone, don't you?” With that he stands up, hands her a blunted foil, and before Scalyfreak has a chance to ask him where on earth he was hiding that, he lifts a practice sword of his own, and smiles. “Shall we?” Scalyfreak glances down at the foil in her hand, tests the weight and balance that feel remarkably similar to her rapier, and then smiles back. “We shall.” So this is the second challenge since my forced return to the office in early May. Before diving into the (few and small) goals for this challenge period, here's a brief “intro” for anyone who doesn't know me very well: My last challenge was derailed by being forced to go back to working in the office part-time. I've been working from home since March of 2020 because of the pandemic, and in May of this year it was decided that everyone has to go back to the office at least part time. I'm now driving in to work three days per week and trying to get anything done in a noisy office environment filled with distractions and people. In case it wasn't obvious, I'm not a fan of being back in the office. Also, after being back in the office for less than a month, a co-worker with more enthusiasm for work than common sense, decided that since her spouse had COVID-like symptoms and she was starting to feel a little under the weather, there was no reason for her to stay home from the office, or to wear a mask when did arrive there. So now I'm wearing a mask around others at all times, including at home, and will continue to sleep in the guest room until the recommended ten day period after exposure is over. Blergh. Every now and then I give in to the temptation to feel sorry for myself from missing my best friend and supplier of hugs and other forms of physical affection, but not only is that pointless, it's also over-indulgent. I've been on business trips longer than ten days. We'll weather this, and we'll be fine. As for challenge goals... I am making an effort to remain mindful of the fact that it took me a few months to adjust to working from home when I first started that, so I need to give myself at least that long to adjust to going back to the office. To that end, these are my challenge goals: Recover HP (physical health) I'm going to continue to try to aim for regular cardio workouts, be they Age of Pandora, dancing, or some other form of movement. Intentional activity is the goal, and it can be anything as long as it happens. Restore Mana (mental health) The meditation habit is going well, but it needs to continue to be a daily priority. Daily meditation is the very foundation of all my anxiety management, and needs to continue. Regenerate Stamina (emotional bandwidth) This category is for anything that makes me feel good, and helps me recharge my emotional energy levels so I can deal with life in general a bit better. Music, pod casts, movies, makeup, skin care products, video games, and of course the daily walks with Husband and Happy Sidekick (especially now that we're keeping our distance from each other just in case). But to keep it a little bit less abstract, I will narrow it down to a tangible action: Post music in this thread at least every two days. And that on that note... off we go.

I started the previous challenge weighing more than I have ever weighed in my life. After a regimen of strict paleo, I ended the previous challenge down 10 pounds. Let's see if I can keep the downward trend going while introducing some new rules to improve sustainability... The Meal Plan should following pretty strict full paleo rules, except: Social: Don't let The Meal Plan interfere with choices about where to eat in social situations. It should never come up in conversation unless someone else initiates it. As a corollary, don't let The Meal Plan interfere with choices about what to eat in social situations. I should be able to find something to eat that perfectly or nearly perfectly conforms to The Meal Plan without making a big deal about it. 80/20ish: Cheat meal or cheat item(s) in a meal is okay once or twice a week in non-consecutive meals. (Should this be non-consecutive days?) With more of a macro lens I could consider just the aspects of the cheat meal that actually cheat. (ie: if you consider a fajita then really only the tortilla is against the rules, but the tortilla accounts for nearly half of the calories!) The occasional dessert should fall in this category. It seems like I have no real problem with ice cream, whereas I probably should avoid glutenous desserts During this past challenge I was only tempted to cheat when I was hungry, so it's likely that by eating the paleo parts of the meal first I will curb most of this desire I was ready to allow up to 1 cup of rice with any meal and not consider it a cheat, but 1 cup is ~200 calories(!), and I don't trust myself yet to know how to limit the rest of the meal around it. Please weigh in on how realistic you think the rules are. I think I will do better with some strict limits, so I will probably have to add corollaries to the 80/20 as I go. Let me know if you have any good ones. Thanks in advance for supporting me this challenge! I've stocked up my Bat Cave with fruits, vegetables, and proteins. Let's do this!

Hi I'm KB Girl, 34 year old mom of two littles (5&2), gym owner, kettlebell sport coach, avid Harry Potter fan fiction reader, novice gardener and lifter of heavy things in many shapes. I struggle with juggling too many things I want to be doing and things I feel I should be doing. The overwhelm does my mental health no good. In the past bullet journaling has helped me keep that overwhelm at bay while also helping me focus on all the good things in life, so I want to get back my regular habit of using it. Main quest: use my bullet journal Perfectionism is standing in my way, there are so many things I have used my bujo for in the past and I also have many ideas for how I could be using it and now I feel like I have to pick all of that back up straight away.. which is bullshit. I think that if I give myself permission to start small that I will gradually pick things back up and start new things. Plan: write down one good thing about the day, every day, ideally right after the kids fall asleep and I've cleared some space for it if necessary. Side quest: pick up running I dislike starting running because.. well its painful at first isn't it? I've always toyed with the idea of pushing through that initial phase because it would be very beneficial for my kettlebell lifting, but never felt motivated enough. This has changed in Porto when two of my teammates would go for a run together in the morning- it seemed like such a great way of doing some extra sightseeing. I love being outdoors, running could be something I'll love. Plan: start small, on Saturdays when my 5yo is in swimming class and on Wednesdays after lifting heavy things. Bonus challenge: grow and cook good food! This one is simple! I shall learn all the things about the growing and the cooking! if the stars align I might even write down in my bujo what I'm learning aka what went wrong and what I'll have to do different next time Plan: there is no plan! just winging it. Also give me all your recipes involving lettuce, because I have so much lettuce to eat!

I currently weigh more than I've ever weighed in my life. I can't remember the last time the scale has trended down. The scale isn't everything (blah, blah...)--I know. It's also true that I am the strongest I've ever been and have more muscle mass than ever. I'm not sure what my ideal weight is; it has to do with being unhappy with my gut and waist size, not dreading clothes shopping, etc. I think I'll know it when I see/feel it. I work out pretty intensely three times a week in full Warrior mode and on the weekends I practice tai chi, but I need to make some changes in the kitchen as well. My diet isn't horrible. I don't really eat all that many processed foods, but I probably eat too much. I eat until I'm full instead of not just until I'm not hungry. This challenge I'm going to experiment with something. I have one goal: Eat full paleo every day. The last time I did this was about 10 years ago, and it worked very well for almost a year, until I just stopped. While it was working I felt great, better than great--amazing! The more I stuck to the plan the easier it was to stick to it. The more progress I saw with weight loss the more productive I became in every other aspect of my life. So my experiment is to recapture that sense of indomitable progress and productivity. I tend to make my challenges too complex and they just kind of peter out at the end. This time my goal is one day at a time with no rollover judgment or guilt, and just see how I do and how I feel afterward. I'm actually starting today, after some preparatory shopping over the weekend, but I have ideas for the next grocery run as well. Hey, I want you all to look at me when I say this... . . .

The next month is going to be crazy with social activities, so I don't want to really commit to any interesting goals. Instead, I will take a moment for myself to actively relax and/or reflect every day. This can be in the form of a walk, a yoga session, bullet journalling, etc. I'm not going to put on strict rules here, just do what feels "enough". Other things that I'll keep doing: play the clarinet (our orchestra has 2 performances during this challenge) go to the gym for body control/strength/kettle bell classes go on hikes Things that I want to do more of, but I'm not going to rate myself on: eating more protein bullet journalling stretching/mobility work/yoga cooking adventurous food

Jumping in late due travel and illness. I'm going to treat the rest of this challenge as an extended Zero Week - the plan is to test out some goals and ramp up my activity levels so I can hit the ground running next challenge. Goals for this week: Re-start bodyweight training, using Elements to build a base Go for a walk x2 Build on my sleep success last challenge by 1) starting to get ready for bed by 10:30 pm each night, and 2) not using my phone in bed at night (besides for Kindle/alarm setting)

This wannabe mighty warrior was felled by their own brain nearly 5 years ago and is looking to get back into the fitness game! One of the symptoms of my brain disorder is fatigue, so I've been mostly housebound on a good day/bedbound on a bad day since 2018. My health has improved lately and I'm looking to do my best to make it even better! My goals: Do two workouts a week, even if you only do the warm up, or one rep. The important thing isn't consistent reps, it's not pushing myself too hard. Showing up and trying twice a week and collapsing on the floor after one wall push up is still a win-apart from maybe I'm not ready for that exercise! 1000 steps a day. Leave the village for something that isn't an an appointment once a week. Ideally I'll surpass some of these sometimes, but the goal is consistent baby steps and not beating myself up. Disability is unpredictable and that's not my fault! They/them or she/her

RECAP: Over the past 14 months I have been re-honing my powerlifting skills and followed a moderate long-term weight loss plan (total of about 45 lb thus far). I'm very happy with the progress I've made, I'd like to continue building on the solid foundation I have. CHALLENGE GOALS: 1. Weight training 4x per week - continuing a PL training program I have been running for a few mesocycles now (https://rippedbody.com/intermediate-powerlifting-program/) 2. Nutrition - using Macro Factor app with great success for the past few months, continue logging daily 3. Lose 4 lb (trend weight) - may or may not happen by the end of this challenge but I think 4 lb in 5 weeks is pretty reasonable to aim for 4. Yardwork day on Sunday mornings - I gotta stop putting this off and this is the best time of the week to do it!

Last Challenge Review ✨Achieved✨ Buy chalk bag & wrist straps: and these really helped me with my goals! Read a book about a style other than your own: The Swoly Bible: An amusing read that I needed. Squat .5x your bodyweight (45kg): And I still feel like I have more in me. Snatch 1/3x your bodyweight (30kg): But not the best form, I'm still learning this one. Farmer's walk with .5x your bodyweight (45kg for 25m): Had to use straps though and definitely at max. 🐾Attempted🐾 Bench press .5x your bodyweight (45kg): Current max is 37kg. I learned about how to bench though! BONUS: Deadlift 1x your bodyweight: Wasn't able to get to the gym due to being unwell. Complete a Wall Walk: Studied how to work up to it NF and managed to put feet up the wall but too scared to walk hands in to wall. I feel I need to lose more weight first for the confidence to hold my weight. ❄️Didn't Work❄️ Delete all delivery apps on my mobile: This got uninstalled and reinstalled over and over. Fact is, they're way too easy to get again and in actuality, they're useful for even healthy days when I can't be bothered to cook. Work through the Eat, Drink and be Mindful workbook again: Didn't even open it. I don't know why, to be honest. Apparently I just didn't prioritise it. I feel like maybe at this stage it isn't discovering why I have these habits, I know why- I've done a lot of work into the why. Get an A on your 4 Week Challenge: My food addiction let me down. I did not control the beast at all, I let it ravage across the countryside destroying previously built villages.

Battle for the Shinies The objective of the battle is to gain the mountain and obtain the precious treasures of lifting, writing, painting, walking, cooking and spirit work. The enemies: fatigue, emotional resistance, distraction addiction, hopelessness The weapons: axe of strength, sword of courage, staff of clarity, reflective shield Skirmish Four: Marching and Net Evasion I have repeatedly overstretched my forces in order to broach new territory, which has resulted in me being unable to hold the ground I have taken. I must adapt my strategy to the fact that my army is quite small, and the ponies have rather short legs. What I need to do is move slowly, not attempting to capture new ground before establishing a firm defence of existing territory. I will add one habit at a time, and work on each for a long time, in order to gain the benefits of automaticity. Last challenge I abandoned my more complex goals and just made it my goal to walk first thing in the morning, after feeding the cats but before my first cup of tea. This challenge I will continue walking. Zero week will bring me up to a month of unbroken walks. For the rest of the challenge, I need to get away from aimless browsing. Some sort of internet ban is in order, and I will spend zero week reflecting on this before deciding on the details.

Joining a few days late but still working towards goals. Things I want to do better on: 1) Listening to my body. I am 5 weeks post surgery and now feel like I can actually ease into weightlifting. I have dreamed of doing this and I know I just have to commit and do it. 2) Taking up space at the gym at least twice a week. I have imposter syndrome here. I do fine at home but at the gym I feel rushed and like everyone is looking at me. I have been working with dumbbells but at some point the squat rack and bench press are going to be my buddies when the dumbbells become too light. I need to realize that I am paying for the right to the gym as everyone else. 3) Lunch….this one still evades me. I getting better but it still requires planning and forethought. I didn’t have this issue when I worked in the office but now that I have been home over 7 years I struggle with this.