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I'm hoping to carry over from a successful challenge in hopes of another. I'm still a long way from where I used to be but for the first time in a long while, I'm happy with where I am now and the progress I am making. The format from the past couple of challenges has served me well but I still have not perfected the streak. I plan to stick to the same format until I earn the 1,000,000 bonus points for a perfect streak... or until I realize I can't... and well, admitting defeat is not an option. Only this time around, I'm just going to make it more difficult. The goals are a bit tougher and there are less streak savers to help me achieve success. Food Goal I got further and further away from eating 'clean' but using it as a guide helps me stay under my target. I'm going to stick with what works only I've trimmed my MFP calorie target. Last challenge it was set to 1900 though I rarely got that close to it. So I've shaved that down to 1800 just to eliminate the temptation. The points are the same though I will admit that I haven't put that much thought into the 1 and 2 point goals since I am aiming for 3 points every day. 3 points for staying under calorie goal or eating 100% clean 2 points for maintaining a deficit of at least 750 calories (per Fitbit) 1 point for eating at least 3 freggies Fitness Goal I was pretty consistent last challenge but I'm still not putting that much effort in. My 'workouts' are bare minimum and barely deserve to be called workouts. I've been feeling the urge to pick up the plates again and start lifting but I'm holding off on reinstating my fancy gym membership until my office moves across town in November. I can go for walks, rucks, or do some tire swinging but I have really been struggling with pushing myself. I need something prescribed so it's back to Darebee. I'll follow Athena's Playbook for the entirety of the challenge. My challenge begins today and will end on the last Friday of the challenge, 32 days. That means I can skip only 2 days in order to complete the 30 day program. I will juggle the workouts as needed for time but I plan to complete 1 every day. 3 points for completing the Athena workout of the day 2 points for getting at least 8,000 steps 1 point for doing at least some activity Chain Bonuses: The streak has motivated many workouts and I'm more determined than ever to get the 1,000,000 point bonus. Bonuses are tweaked a little for this 32 week challenge. There are less streak bonuses and they only add a +1 to whatever my score is, rather than an automatic 3 points. Achieving at least 1 point for either goal awards the following points: 7 days = 1 bonus point 10 days = 3 bonus points 15 days = 5 bonus points 21 days = 15 bonus points 27 days = 25 bonus points 32 days = 100 bonus points Achieving at least 2 points for either goal awards the following points: 3 days = 1 bonus point 7 days = 3 bonus points 10 days = 5 bonus points 15 days = 10 bonus points 21 days = 25 bonus points 27 days = 50 bonus points 32 days = 1,000 bonus points Achieving at least 3 points for either goal awards the following points: 3 days = 3 bonus point 7 days = 5 bonus points +1 Streak Saver 10 days = 10 bonus points 15 days = 20 bonus points +1 Streak Saver 21 days = 50 bonus points 27 days = 500 bonus points +1 Streak Saver 32 days = 1,000,000 bonus points

It occured to me that I haven't been paying much attention to my 2017 Roadmap. With only 2 challenges left in this year, its time to take stock of the rest of my goals for the year and make as much progress as possible. I haven't necessarily been neglecting the Roadmap as most of my goals have been aligned with the goals I set out for the year but some goals are further along than others. The purpose of this challenge is to get out that map and follow it to my selected destination. I've taken stock here and come up with a list of goals that still need work. The two goals that still require the most work are sleep and achieving Onederland status (weight below 200). Sleep Not only am I addicted to my snooze button but I perpetually get too little sleep. I made the goal to work on my sleep habits so that I could wake up on a weekday, at least once, without the use of an alarm clock. What was I thinking? I've only got 2 challenges left to achieve this. I'm going to spend this challenge working on getting enough sleep and then next challenge I can work on timing. Goal: Get at least 7-1/2 hours of sleep every single night. This entails going to sleep by 11:30 on weeknights. I'll also keep track of how many times I hit the snooze button. Currently, the max is 8 times! Bonus points for reducing. However, this could work against the other goal if I wake up sooner than normal. To do these effectively, I'll aim for a 11:15 bed time and try to start the alarm later in the morning. Onederland I have no intentions of losing enough to get to Onederland in the next two challenges but I need to keep my focus on this. More importantly, I need to focus on doing things that bring me joy and keep me fit and losing fat as a means to enjoy those other activities. This has two components: training focused on activites I enjoy or preparing me to be able to do whatever I want, and eating to fuel those activities and to learn to eat smart in a sustainable way so that my weight doesn't keep me from doing any of those activities. I am still pursuing a way to incorporate the benefits of Whole30 in a sustainable way. I go back and forth between the desire to not have to track food by eating compliantly and being able to accommodate variances in a smart way. Goal 1: Continue eating Paleo Plus (Paleo plus moderate dairy and limited whole grains). Rather than counting variances, if I want to accommodate non-compliant foods, I just need to track calories for that day and make it work byn staying under 1600 calories. This has the benefits of eating mostly compliant food and not needing to track everything but also being able to work in other foods while being aware of calorie intake. Eating non compliant foods over the calorie limit count as a variance. Since this goal is more lenient than before, I'll only allow 1 variance per week. I've been thinking a lot about the right training to prep for the HammerRace next year and there is no reason to wait until next year to start. So I've really stepped up my training. I will continue lifting according to my 5/3/1 program twice a week. I need to be better about accessory work and getting the most from my gym days. Each lift day will have 3 accessory movements, 2 push/pull, and 1 ab. I am woefully weak in the cardio area so I need to stick to cardio 3 times a week. This will mostly be at home so walking still counts, as will running, rucking, dancing, etc... I am being deliberately open about this as long as I get the 3 cardio workouts in each week. In addition to this, I'll be doing a kettlebell swing 30 day challenge. This is a daily challenge that rotates 4 kettlebell workouts, hopefully improving time. The 4 workouts revolve around goblet squats and KB swings. But wait, there's more. On one of those cardio days, I'll also throw in a bodyweight workout. I wanted to lift three days a week but I don't really want to drive to the gym 3 days a week so this is the compromise. This workout will include donkey kicks, clamshells, squats, sideleg raises, and this darebee workout Goal 2: Stick to the workout schedule. This may seem like there is a lot going on but I have already edited for RangerBrain. I did schedule 2 rests day each week. Also, the schedule worked out well to stick to the 30 days of the KB challenge. So my challenge will start on Wednesday during 0 week and end on the final Thursday of the challenge. Tidbits I still want to keep track of decluttering/house projects as well as being more present and spending time with family. I'll continue to report on it in my updates though there aren't any goals attached to it.

AKA - Wonder Woman Goes into Battle Welcome to the third installment of this summer's Wonder Woman blockbuster challenge series! There isn't much new here but I'm continuing with what works and tweaking the rest. I have two primary goals - to prepare for this fall's HammerRace and to defeat the nasty scale. Naturally, my focus is more on the former and less on the latter. Hopefully taking care of one will take care of the other by default. If that doesn't work I might just take my hammer to the scale and that will be the end of it. I am rolling Week 0 as well as the Week 0 from the end of the challenge into this challenge to make another proper 6 week challenge. This format works best for me and the last challenge reminded me of that. During this challenge I have a family vacation planned from August 9th - 14th. The kids and I will be camping in the Rocky's and the Badlands. Then another trip the 25th-29th for the Minnesota State Fair. Power I am currently at the beginning of week 3 for my 5/3/1 lifting program. I won't actually have any time during week 0 to get to the gym since my first vacation starts mid week. But my goal is to hit the gym twice per week. Workout A is DL and OHP, Workout B is Squats and Bench. Grace I need to get 3 other workout sessions in a week, ideally each and every one of these will involve a hammer. This 6 week challenge will go up to just a few weeks before the HammerRace. I need to get comfortable doing some running with the hammer as well as just building up strength wielding the hammer. This will likely come to fruition with 2 Sledgehammer Shenanigan TM workouts a week, and then supplement with a short hammer run or just some tire slams at home. I am allowing some non-hammer substitutions. I will still benefit from some running without the hammer or maybe some rucking. While on vacation there will be a lot less hammering and more substituting with non-hammer activities. Wisdom I basically stopped logging food sometime during the last challenge. I'm still logging into MFP but I'm not doing anything. I really liked not having to worry about logging food during my Whole30 and I'd like to recreate that. I still use MFP for meal planning purposes but with the right choices I don't have to worrry about the MFP drudgery day to day. So I'm going to try a modified Whole30/Paleo so that I don't have to log food. The following is my attempt at making this SMART but really these are just guidelines. Unlimited - Paleo approved foods are allowed in unlimited quantities - as determined by appetite of course Controlled - There are some exceptions to Paleo that I am allowing but they must be in controlled amounts to still allow for not logging.. This also includes some calorie dense paleo approved foods. These should be in controlled amounts only... approximately 1 serving of each daily although exceptions are allowed if I can make a case for the choice. nuts, dairy, peanut butter, even some low processed whole grains Limited - These are foods that, in general, aren't condusive to my goals but it's also not good to be that restrictive and these foods are not necessarily bad enough to be variances. They are like variance wannabes. Other grains... I guess that's the whole list. I'm sure I'll add to this as I go. Variances - Last challenge I limited sweets to one per day. I get that not being restrictive is good for the soul but this was jsut too much. 3 variances are allowed a week. ice cream, pizza, sweets, fries... the list is long and we all basically know what is on this list. Some exceptions and fine tuning: This is all about being able to make good choices day to day so these are really just guidelines. I'd like to stick to it closely enough to be successful without logging food and without being too restrictive and allowing for some indulgences. Wonder Wonder is going to look a bit different this time. My sanity no longer hinges on making the most of my summer. The end of August and into September is always the most hectic time of the year and the transition from summer into the school year always makes me a little bit crazy. Qbert starts high school this year as well as cross country and any number of other acedemic clubs. Peach is properly in middle school and dance classes start up soon too. The class I teach starts in a couple weeks as well. Although this semester I am back to just 1 class and it is my favorite and easiest class. So Wonder here is focused on being organized and prioritizing so that I have time to relax as well. I really really need to start up my bujo again as there are lots of important dates to keep track of and I need to keep up on the crochet so I can organize an auction in October. This goal isn't very SMART as is but I think it will become more concrete as I go.

>.> <.< Drink 1 gallon water Strength Train or Swim Practice Spanish

I wasn't particularly looking forward to this challenge until I realized I could start now and roll the 2 week break into a proper 6 week challenge. 6 week challenge activate! Power I'll be starting Cycle II of 5/3/1. Spreadsheet is here. I'll be lifting approximately twice a week with 2 big lifts each day plus some accessory work, usually determined on the fly. Grace I'll be continuing with Jeff Galloway's running principles. The theory is every 2 weeks I test my 1 mile pace and use that to determine the training walk/run pace. Each week consists of 2 short runs and 1 'long' run. Every 2 weeks that long run will include a retest of the 1 mile pace. As part of Galloway's program, there are also 3 walk or cross train days. 2 of those cross train days will be my lifting days, the 3rd will be a hammer day. That leaves 1 rest day per week. I just completed my 1 mile test run this past weekend so I'll do that again in 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and then on the last weekend. I am hoping for improvement each time. The hammer workout will be some combination of Shovelglove, tire swings, or a short hammer run but the hammer will be neglected no more. Here is the tentative workout schedule for the challenge: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday off run 15-20min lift run 15-20 min lift Hammer 1.5 mile off run 15-20min lift run 15-20 min lift Hammer 1.5 mile* off run 20-25 min lift run 20-25 min lift Hammer 2 miles off run 20-25 min lift run 20-25 min lift Hammer 2 miles* off run 25-30 min lift run 25-30 min lift Hammer 2.5 miles off run 25-30 min lift run 25-30 min lift Hammer 2.5 miles* Wisdom My current goal is to be somewhere between logging food on MFP and intuitive eating. I have been logging food, with a 'goal' in mind but I'm not that concerned about the goal as long as I am making decent choices and eating when I am hungry. I usually go most of the day eating primal, paleo + dairy, and then add some grains to dinner. I'd like to have grains a bit less with dinner, either by having it less often, choosing better grain choices, or just smaller portions. Restricting them altogether isn't ideal. I tried tracking variances last challenge but the line between a variance and making a choice was getting blurry so I'm abandoning that. I do have some guidelines to follow: Plan the week's menu ahead and batch cook. Meal planning must include some veggies with dinner Eat all the freggies! Ideally no more than 1 meal without freggies a day but overall just keep track and aim for at least 3-5 freggies a day Edit for SMART goal: Get at least 4 servings of freggies a day. limit sweets. A little ice cream is OK some nights, maybe some chocolate, but stay in control and just don't go overboard. Edit for SMART goal: No more than 1 sweet treat a day. Focus on how food choices will make me feel. Will it satisfy my hunger? Will it make me feel bloated and full? I don't know why I make goals like this. I never stop and think about this when I am deciding on foods. My intention was to integrate some intuitive eating so I am not relying as heavily on the rules but it's not working. Wonder Does anyone else feel suffocated by time? It just keeps moving and there is no stopping it, whether you have something to hold onto or not. The summer is quickly coming to an end. This challenge ends a week and a half before the kids start school again and during that time is our family vacation. So the 6 weeks of this challenge mark what's left of my summer. I just don't want to squander it. I have a lot of crochet projects to work on for an online auction fundraiser I am planning but I also need to be present for others and take some time to relax. I've started a list in my bujo of some summer projects and to-dos. I'd like to look back the summer and have something to show for it and have experiences we can remember. EDITED: This goal isn't very SMART either. Now that I am consumed by crocheting for this fundraiser, I am not making much time for anything else, fun or adulting. I need to get back to filling in my bujo and making plans. Goal: Cross 3 things off my list each week. Do at least 1 fun activity per week with family - with the exception for the 1 week I am on my own.

Power. Grace. Wisdom. Wonder. Guess who's back........!!! . . . No, not Slim Shady! Wonder Woman is back. The semester is over (or will be as soon as I finish grading) so it's time to pick myself up and get this year started properly. Is it coincidence or destiny that this coincides with the Wonder Woman movie release right at the beginning of this challenge? I will be taking an actual Week 0 this time around. I stil have a week of grading to finish up and I could really use a week off after my Whole30 last challenge. Power It's time to get back in that gym and lift some heavy shit and put it back down. I'll be starting up my 5/3/1 program again. I have a spreadsheet I developed the last time around on 5/3/1. I'll repopulate with my new numbers and share it here. The plan is to hit the gym 2 days a week and do 2 lifts each gym day. Day1: DL and OHP. Day 2: Squat and bench. I will use Week 0 to test 1RM. Grace Time to run. I didn't make the cut off to register for the 5k at the MN State Fair but we'll find some substitute plus I need to build some stamina for the HammerRace. I'll be using Jeff Galloway's running principles. The theory is every 2 weeks I test my 1 mile pace and use that to determine the training walk/run pace. I'll test my 1 mile pace during Week 0 so I can start in Week 1. Each week consists of 2 short runs and 1 'long' run. Every 2 weeks that long run will include a retest of the 1 mile pace. As part of Galloway's program, there are also 3 walk or cross train days. 2 of those cross train days will be my lifting days, the 3rd will be a ruck day. That leaves 1 rest day per week. Week 0 will consist of 1 ruck and the mile pace run. The schedule may change from week to week but basically the plan is something like this: M - Ruck T - Short run W - Lift R - Short Run F - Lift S - Rest S - 'long' run Wisdom This will be my food goal. It won't be that strict. I will use what I learned during Whole30 and find out what works best for me for a more sustainable paleo diet. This might be a certain number of variances a week, or counting freggies.. And I need to determine which Whole30 resticted foods I want to allow daily and which will be restricted. I'll likely just report my daily food log here and work it out as I go along. I will be logging food on MFP but I won't have a goal based on calories. Wonder Summer has arrived, at least according to the academic calendar. I have several weekends blocked off already to transport kids to grandparent's over the summer and all their various outings. I do not want to squander the remaining free summer weekends. I would like to plan something fun with the family each week and also spend some time on my hobbies that I have been neglecting. I think this summer I want to focus on some guitar practice and some crochet/quilting crafty stuff. Sims is a hobby too but I'd like to be able to produce something with my time other than a legendary Sim family.

Boring Backstory Progress is not linear. We've all heard this before; we know it's true. The challenge is in accepting it. I've really been struggling the last few challenges. It doesn't feel like I'm making progress but habits are being reinforced, attitudes are changing, and mindfulness is becoming easier. The GoRuck that was to happen at the very start of this challenge has been cancelled. The next event is the 5K Milk Run at the Minnesota State Fair. So it's time to switch gears on training and start running. I have been travelling a lot this summer with 2 more trips coming up during this challenge. When travelling sometimes workouts get skipped; sometimes they get replaced. I figure as long as I am in control of my food choices then missing some workouts won't make a huge difference in meeting my goals. I'm tired of taking two steps backward all the time and I know this is due to my food choices and my relationship with food. So this challenge is basically similar to the last umpteen challenges with a few exceptions... I've tried to simplify it a bit; the primary focus of this challenge is food choices, and the training focus has changed from rucking to running. FOOD I've mapped out the challenge days, starting with today, and noted travel days so I can account for them. Last challenge I adopted a modified calorie goal so that allows for more on weekends and travel days, rest days, and recovery days. I've added the calorie goals for each day on the Magic Spreadsheet of SuccessTM (MSS). For each day I'll document the actual calories, logged with MFP. Scoring will occur in 1 of 2 ways, I haven't decided which yet until I have some data and see how it shakes out. At the end of each week, I'll have a projected Average Daily Calorie intake (ADC) an actual Average Daily Calorie intake. Scoring option #1: The calculated percent difference between the projected and actual. Scoring Option #2: the number of days of the week that actual stayed within projected. I think I prefer Option #1. This will account for whether I go over a little or a lot, same with staying under goal, rather than just not getting a point if I go over by a respectable amount of calories and then go under the same amount another day. What I want to avoid is trying to make up calorie overages on another day. I'm OK using some short calorie days to average out some over days but I don't want to end up cutting too much on some days to account for variance days. This will send me right into a spiral of variance days that will never end. TRAINING Training has been mapped out on the MSS, accounting for travel days. For the most part each week follows this plan: 3 Run Days. distances determined by Runkeeper 5K training plan. Weather will be a factor as it has been a really hot and humid summer and this makes running suck. 2 Lift Days. using training plan from my trainer. 1 Active Rest Day. This can be 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes of Shovelglove, rucking, hiking, walking, swimming with the family, biking, catching Pokemon, anything. I don't care what and it doesn't have to be much, just don't be a Blerch. and now for some gratuitous gifs..... This challenge has been brought to you by:

Subtitlted: Wonder Woman battles the Dark Playground and the Clutter that attempts to control her life Since joining NF I’ve been able to take control of my food choices and my fitness. I obviously still struggle with these but I have come a long way in building good habits. I've lost 80 pounds since joining and started doing new activities that I never would have dreamed of before. Life is getting pretty awesome. But now that I have accomplished so much and have a different mindset in those areas, there are some other negative habits I am ready to tackle. Boring Backstory Present Day: So I found this article on Briniel’s last challenge. The way it portrays procrastination is really helpful in visualizing and tackling this bad habit. I spend too much time in the Dark Playground and never focus on the work in the Dark Woods. I should be able to get more done and have more time to actually enjoy my free time in the Happy Playground. using this metaphor really helps me visualize the enemy and work on this habit. Tied up with this habit of procrastination is my tendency to create clutter and then procrastinate its demise. Tackling these habits also aligns with my 2016 roadmap. Battling procrastination will not only help me be more productive but it should allow for more actual free time to do some of the epic quests things I never seem to have time for. My other goals aren’t really changing. Eat. Lift. Ruck. Sleep. Fight Villains. Repeat. Bulletproof Bracelets Macros. Calories under 1600, at least 100g protein, preferably 120g carbs or less but this is not as strict. All subject to change. And change it has. I'm going to use this challenge to try and unlock my macros for optimal performance. Attempt #1: Stay at 1600 calories except for recovery days. Recovery days will be 1700 calories. Also, per trainer, use all the calories. If I have calories leftover at the end of the day, use them...but use them well. Amazonian Strength Lift 3 days a week (and whatever else the trainer throws at me) Lasso of Truth Ruck 3 days a week, still no distance or time requirement. Just get out there. Tiara Battle the Dark Playground. I identify so much with this article on procrastination. My biggest issues are either just putting things off that have to get done until the Panic Monster comes out or I ‘multitask’ by doing some of my work with the TV on in the background or pretend that I can play Sims at the same time. Each week I'll make a To-Do list for each category in my Passion Planner and prioritize. I know I can’t just jump in and be productive all the time so my goal will be to spend at least 5 tomatoes a week on my to-do list items without distractions. The goal here is to train the instant gratification monkey to behave with little time-outs in the Dark Woods so i can get some work done. The Dark Playground Based on my 2016 roadmap these are the items that I need to spend more time on: · Reading - I have not yet selected a book for this challenge... · Keeping the house tidy (Fly Lady) · KonMari – This challenge’s focus is books. (I’m a little frightened) · Being productive o Being prepared for class o Boy Scout treasurer duties o Personal paperwork and tasks o Being less distracted at work Some rules and exceptions: Villain Face-Off Battle Since my fitness and diet goals are pretty consistent there will be a heavy emphasis on productivity. As in the past, each villain has 2 categories of goals that are required to defeat them. Other NF rebels sign up to represent a villain. Each week, I’ll randomly select a villain and both myself and the villain will select a goal in each category. Highest score or closest to 100% wins the Face-Off. I award myself 1 stat point for every win (or draw) representing the skill that best matches the goal category. This challenge’s villains: Pick Your Own Villain!!! In order to sign up, please select a DC villain and sign up with your name and your villain’s name on the sign up sheet. Posting your own villain pic is optional. Please limit yourself to existing villains, thanks. Also, select your categories.. At least 1 category must be Epic Quest or General Health. For the second goal you can also select from Food, Strength, or Conditioning. We will each pick our own goals, but the villain picks the category. Wonder Woman does not get to pick her villain’s strengths so she must be able to defeat whatever presents itself.

This challenge is really just a continuation of the previous challenge, a little fine tuned. Nothing fancy. Main Quest: My main quest is spelled out in my roadmap for 2016. It encompasses my goals for 2016. All my challenges for this year will be geared toward getting me closer to those goals. This challenge's goals - simple and straightforward: Bulletproof Bracelets Manage food intake. This means stay within macros - 1600 calories, carbs less than 120g, protein at least 100g. Preferably, I'd like to leave some calories at the end of the day, 100-150 but I'll just be mindful of what I need. Balance this with allowing occasional small variances for sanity's sake. Amazonian Strength Strength training 3 times a week. Probably Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. No exceptions. Lasso of Truth Rucking 3 times a week. No distance requirement, just get out there. Probably Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Tiara Yoga/stretching on rest day, once a week - Monday Work on FlyLady routines KonMari wardrobe Read Steve's book Villain Face-Off Battle Wonder Woman still has villains that need to be defeated. I'll be continuing with the same villain sign up sheet from last challenge. Each villain is represented by another NF rebel. In order to win the battle against the villain, I will need to declare 2 additional goals from the 4 goal categories above and compete against the supervillain’s own goals. I will declare my goals at the beginning of the week once the villain is selected and challenge my fellow rebel to set their goals. Highest score or closest to 100% wins the Face-Off. 1 stat point awarded for every Wonder Woman win and whichever skill best matches the goal category. I’ll be posting the villain sign up sheet shortly so if you are interested in a Face-off battle, stay tuned.

According to my initial timeline I expected to reach my goal weight by the end of this year. That won’t quite happen and I’m OK with that. But it’s the last challenge of the year so I want to make it count. I need to channel my inner super hero and my inner super hero is none other than the mighty Wonder Woman. This challenge begins now. My main Quest is the same as before. I am still pursuing my original goal to reach my goal weight of 160 or some particular bodyfat % (to be determined at some date closer to actually reaching goal weight). In addition to losing those pounds I am pursuing my goal to increase my awesomeness. This includes any and all aspects of fitness. To achieve these main quests, my goals must align with these components Eating in a clean and sustainable fashionStaying active to increase the burn to be awesomeIncrease strength to be BAMF In addition to those goals that directly work towards these quests, I also need to maintain a strong foundation of general well-being. To that end, I will employ the tools and powers of Wonder Woman. Grading is based on these 5 strengths. Bulletproof Bracelets These protect Wonder Woman from harm. Stay within the caloric ‘sweet spot’. This means log all food and stay under 1600 calories and be active enough every day to burn 2700 calories according to my (currently broken) fitness tracker. There are three exceptions to this rule. Halloween night is always a pizza delivery night. Thanksgiving is well.. Thanksgiving. I can not be held responsible for calories then though I am preparing a pretty clean menu. Also the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a homemade pizza night. +3 CON, +2 WIS Amazonian Strength She’s an Amazonian princess for crying out loud. Channel that strength. Some strength routine 3 times a week. This will likely include rock wall climbing, Shovelglove, Neila Rey and other bodyweight workouts, and quite possibly a foray into Starting Strengths. +2 STR, +2 DEX Tiara Did I mention Wonder Woman was a princess? And this tiara is a deadly weapon. Stay mindful of general health. Get enough sleep and stay hydrated. Lasso of Truth Wonder Woman’s alter ego was very responsible and got shit done. I need to adult better. This includes staying focused at work and keeping the domicile maintained. Flying in an Invisible Plane Well, she didn’t always have this. But it’s cool. And flying requires balance, in my case mental balance. I need to take care of myself. Keep up with Tai Chi, do some art, go on a date, and in general be mindful of ‘me’ time. Villain Face-Off Battle Here’s the plot twist. Stat points are only awarded for Amazonian Strength and the Bulletproof Bracelet goals. There is a reason for this. Beginning Week 1, Wonder Woman will encounter a randomly selected villain by a roll of the dice. Each villain is represented by another NF rebel. In order to win the battle against the villain, I will need to declare 2 additional goals from the 5 strengths above and compete against the supervillain’s own goals. I will declare my goals at the beginning of the week once the villain is selected and challenge my fellow rebel to set their goals. Highest score or closest to 100% wins the Face-Off. 1 stat point awarded for every Wonder Woman win and whichever skill best matches the goal category. I’ll be posting the villain sign up sheet shortly so if you are interested in a Face-off battle, stay tuned.

Hello Fellow Rebels! I'm writing this from a Starbucks WiFi connection, still won't have my own internet for another 2 weeks. Last challenge was difficult to keep up with for this same reason, plenty of things happening and victories to track, but no way to alert people! Even now, I'm probably going to have to leave before I can finish, so I'll try to make this quick. Even though I'm a HORRENDOUSLY slow typist. My main quest for this challenge is to get ready for law school, which will start a month into the challenge. Then I'll have 2 weeks of classes to assess my preparedness and make any needed adjustments before the semester gets fully underway. I want to be able to balance a healthy lifestyle and a full class load, and that means sticking to a plan and a schedule. I'll actually get my class schedule sometime this week and be able to create (and post many pictures of) a comprehensive calendar to simulate what my schedule in law school will be like. I want to work on making meals, working out, and "studying" only in times that I'll actually have available to me between classes. More on how that will pan out exactly in a future post. For now, I have 3 goals for myself, to feed my body, my mind, and my soul. This may be the only "me" time I get for quite some time (three years if my lawyer friends are telling the truth). It's very important to me to not let my physical vessel suffer while I hone my mind. This is the only body I've got, after all. Toward that end: GOAL 1: I want to do bodyweight workouts 3 times a week, this is the BARE minimum. If I want to, I can take an off day and go for a walk or kayak on the lake or whatever, but I ABSLUTELY CANNOT slack on these workouts. I'm not giving myself a way out this time. I have literally nothing weighing on my time these days since quitting my job and moving, so there's no reason not to carve out the 3 hours a week it requires. If that. If I pick up a good pace I can get a 4 set circuit done in 30 minutes. It's about time I stopped babying myself and got back to the Amanda I was this time last year. This means a total of 18 workouts, which is not really that much of a commitment. The grading is as follows: A= 12-18 workouts, with some extra ones thrown in such as cycling and urban hikes B= 9-15 workouts with no extra time put in C= 6-10 workouts F= less than 6 workouts. This is not an option. GOAL 2: I want to make delicious and nutritious meals for me and my tiny family of one other person. We've been doing very well in making our own food (I cook, Nate cleans up) and I want to keep it that way. The thing that kills me currently is keeping in line with Nate's tastbuds and still keeping it Paleo. Right now, I don't really. There are a lot of white potatoes and rice, used to keep Nate's culinary attention and to keep him eating my food instead of going to a fast food place after I eat dinner. He's committed to eating more healthfully just like I am, but he's hopelessly picky. My real challenge is in finding whole food meals that he enjoys and doesn't realize are good for him ;-) I'll do this by making dinner at least 3 times a week, realistically it'll probably be more. If I'm meeting this goal too easily I'll adjust for difficulty later. This equals 18 dinners in all, so grading is: A= 15-20 nutritious and completely paleo meals B= 10-15 paleo meals, a few that cheat slightly C= 8-12 meals, most have some form of simple carb F= less than 10 cooked meals. If this happens, heaven help me. GOAL 3: I want to be ready administratively for when law school comes, this means making out a budget, getting textbooks, notebooks/pens and such, and arranging my workspace. This is more of a tiered system than letter graded, I'm going to have 6 tasks that need to be met by the end of the challenge. They are, in no particular order: Sort out official files and paperwork so that it doesn't drown my study sessionsCreate a budget that takes into account student loans and Nate's impending new jobBuy textbooks, get vaccinated, and upgrade ID (all on campus)Get new study materials, all pens and highlighters were accidentally tossed during the moveFind syllabi, transpose due dates into NEW date plannerCreate database of recipes to draw form that can be made in less than an hour or in a Crockpot for multiple mealsThese are the tools that will enable my overly engaged mind to rest easy on a cushion of over-preparation. I've already been told that trying to do supplemental reading before starting classes is mostly useless unless it's requested on the syllabus, and my tendency to overthink things is going to rear it's ugly head very soon if I don't have something productive to occupy my time. So that's this challenge in a nutshell. Bring on August! I can't wait to read what you guys are tackling this time.

NF Challenge #6 JenniferStark In: Wonder Woman Gets an Allowance When I was around 8 or 9 years old my parents gave us an allowance for completing our chores. The parentally subsidized program was a short lived, but the idea was a good one. I need these chores done, you like money, lets trade. Lately my inner child has been complaining loudly about working and training and doing all the stuff I should. Fight fire with water, fight anger with love, fight lazy inner child with… you guessed it! Bribery! Instead of trying to fight against it, I have decided to bribe my inner child instead. I want to buy supplies for my helmet painting project. For completing workouts and other challenge tasks $ goes into my Helmet fund. Any missed workouts or tasks $ leaves the Helmet fund. If I stay focused I’ll have plenty of cash for my supplies. Challenge Goals: 1) Obey the Almighty Calendar- When I adhere to my google calendar I have plenty of time to work and play. When I don’t, all I have time for is farting around and complaining about not having time. Compliance will be measured thusly: a. Training Schedule: I have workouts or active rest planned for each day. Completed Workout/active rest +2 Missed task -4 b. Slide Board Training: I need to use my slide board once a week. If I do +2 2) Successful Pull Up- My pushups are coming along nicely and I want to add to my arsenal of arm awesomeness. I will follow Steve’s suggested progression, and will hopefully be able to complete a real live pull up by the end of the challenge. a. Hooray I just did a pull up!: +50 b. Boo-urns, I cannot do a pull up…yet: 0 3) Productitude- a simplified version of what I’ve done in previous challenges. Work more. I usually leave work a bit early on Monday for hockey and Friday because Friday but never end up working more in the middle of the week to make up for it. Less work = less $$ = L a. 40 hours: +5 b. 45 or more hours: +10 c. Less than 40: -5 Side Questing: Last summer I swore I was going to resurface our deck, but that never happened. So, I decided to steal the ‘Dreaded to do list’ idea from other Rebels and incorporate it into my challenge. Any items completed from the list will earn me bonus cash for the Helmet Fund. The list includes but is not limited to: · Patio weeding and weed killer treatment +10 · Dig out patio border and put down rocks +25 · Paint basement +25 · Power wash deck +15 · Resurface deck +25 · Get shower fixed +25 RPG notes: I got rather discombobulated when trying to start my character and assign attribute points when I was a brand new NF Rebel so I have decided to start over. If I am successful in this challenge I will gain the following points: Calendar: 90% of training schedule complete +2 STR, +2 STA, +2 DEX (less than 90% = ½ points) Productitude: 5 out of 6 weeks at 40 +3 CHA 3 or more weeks = 1 CHA Pull Up: Yes! +2 STR No… 0 points Home List: 3 items completed +1 WIS 6 items complete +2 WIS 9 Items completed +3 WIS (and someone should check for signs of the imperious curse.)

After earning the illustrious title of Winter Ranger, JenniferStark realized her journey is just beginning. The Elders have decided to send her to a distant land to continue her training. She packed and arrived on the docks promptly as instructed. She stepped aboard Blue and was greeted by the ship’s Captain. “It’s an honor to have a Winter Ranger on board.†“Enough of an honor to tell me where we are headed?†“You’ll find out soon enough.†Soon enough turned out to be nearly a week later as Blue approached a curious island…. JenniferStark stared at the island with awe. “This is Themyscira, home of the Amazons.†Said Captain. “They are powerful, fearsome warriors, you will learn much from them.†I want to use this summer to take training seriously and unleash my inner super hero. I am new to the Wonder Woman comics (having just jumped in with the New 52) but who better to inspire epic girl power and overall bad-assery? (I take your silence as agreement) That’s right! No one! I feel my best when I am eating paleo friendly noms and working out regularly. So my focus this challenge is to get back in the groove and re-establish good habits. I will be working my way through Maria Mountain’s off ice goalie training program. Most of the program is bodyweight exercises chosen to improve flexibility, speed and strength in a functional way for goalies (aka no running, YAY!) The program starts slowly so I will supplement my training with push-ups. Challenge Goals: Train like an Amazon: These warriors are constantly pushing their limits to get stronger and faster. I will participate in 3 workouts per week and emerge stronger and faster than ever before. 100% Paleo: There are no fast food breakfast sandwiches to be found on the island, they are forbidden. Amazons only eat fresh meat and veggies, and so must I. (latitude will be granted for feasts, and other special occasions.) Summer Reading List: Amazons are as smart as they are strong. One must work the mind as well as the body. There is an impressive library here that will come in handy. I must start and finish 3 books by the end of my time on the island. Side quest: I'd like to paint a goalie mask this summer. So I hope to finalize the design and acquire the materials by the end of the challenge.

Hey, everybody! I'm Holly, as you probably could have guessed from the username. This will be my first time with the rebellion, and I'm Uber exited. My goals for my first time are as such: 1. Cut out bread from my diet 2. Be able to do at least one pull up 3. Learn at least three parkour moves. 4. since school is just about out, try to talk to at least one friend a day. Starting out a little slow since this is my first time out. I'll be keeping a food and exercise diary as well as I can. so I hope that knowwing that people are watching will help me make the right choices. My stats as of now are: weight- 142.6 lbs Hieght- 5'4" My motivations are appropriately nerdy I think, I want to have a cool muscular type body and awesome skills so that I can cosplay awesome people like Wonder Woman. Or Batgirl. or Black widow. Or Black Canary. Or anyone really. I just wanna be awesome in a physical way as well as a psychological/mental way.