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Since last year, many things have happened in my life, and not all of them were pleasant. Last spring, I discovered NF, did a challenge amongst the Assassins -- and in the summer, I sort of ... disappeared. Not only from NF, but from many parts and aspects of my life I used to love and which stealthily fell behind, disappearing in the shadows. Friends, creativity, joy of life. Somehow, I didn't put up much of a fight and now I see that this was a mistake. No matter what life presents you with, there is always more to it than "just functioning." This year, I turned 49, and yes, it did make me think about the "second half of life." Second half? Who says I'm going to make it to 100 years? See, I feel that I need to change something, before it is too late. I am a mother of two, married, fighting a workaholic's fight on too many fronts at the same time, neclecting myself and those who are closest to me. This has to be changed. Better now than never. One positive thing since last year: I lost loads of weight, and I kept it off by following a very low carb lifestyle which I enjoy - much to the surprise of many. So these are my goals, listed but not ranked: #1: reconnect with friends. Due to the fact that I lived in different countries, this means digging up addresses, asking others for emails and so on. In order to reconnect, write at least two letters/ emails per week to different persons I would like to reconnect with. #2: do Yoga every day. I am not much of a gym person, and I love the fact that Yoga can easily be practised at home. Since my Yoga is sort of self-taught with a book, I signed up with NF yoga, and I would like to do two weeks Water Series A, two weeks Water Series B, and maybe - if things run really well - two weeks Fire Series A, depending on how I feel with it. #3: on "short" Yoga days, do my regular Pilates routine in addition, since it helped me a lot with some pains and ailments that come with excessive desk work. #4: before bedtime, storytelling time with my kids. They don't have much time with me, but they love it when I am not too pooped at the end of the day to read to them or to just talk about THEIR day. #5: finish one crafting project per week (I have a lot of started but unfinished stuff here…) #6: get rid of stuff that just sits around and clutters my space. I believe that "mess outside" is a symbol of "mess inside", and I need more clarity and peace of mind. Instead of junkyard, think Zen garden… I will use a method a fellow nerd inspired me to (I already have a big box in the hallway for stuff to go). Life Quest: reduce work hours, get healthy and come to a point where I can say again that I am happy with my life. Sounds like a pretty easy plan, but I would be happy if I can do it. I leave the house around 7.30am and I return earliest by 6pm. Every day. There is not much time left for anything else but work. Breaks at work I will use to follow threads, and to post. Any input is greatly appreciated! And here my grading system, days counted include weekends: #1 Writing 12 letters during challenge = A, 9 letters = B, 6 letters = C, 3 letters = D 2 or less = fail. #2 Yoga every day = A, miss one day per week = B, miss two days per week = C, miss three days per week = D, miss more than three days per week = fail #3 Pilates three times per week = A, 2 times = B, one time = C, none = fail #4 Storytelling: every day = A, miss one = B, miss two = C, miss three = D, miss more than three = fail #5 6 crating projects selected: all six done = A, five done = B, four done = C, three done = D, less than three = fail (calculated over the duration of the whole challenge) #6 Decluttering: tackling every day at least one corner, drawer or compartment in my office shelf, no matter how small. Every day get one part done = A, miss one day = B, miss tow days = C, miss three days = D, less than three days or none = fail This goes by week, and in the end I'll somehow come up with a total grade how the challenge went as a whole setup.

hello fellow rebels! this is my second challenge. and i decided to join the lovely scouts for this one! beginning stats: weight 106.7 kg / 235.2 lbs height 1.78 m / 5´10´´ level 2 amazon scout STR 3|DEX 1|STA 3|CON 3|WIS 4|CHA 2 let them fat cells cry out in pain! GOALS: I. try not to puke on the lawn! i just tried out a insanity-like bootcamp training in a park nearby. its a group training but so far there is only me doing it. that means i have a personal trainer who makes me experience my limits every single week. i love it although i still look like a dork and cant move my body without pain for days afterwards! go forth and kick ass every monday at 6:30 pm unless you are injured ( if the training is cancelled, do the "angry bird" workout at home or go workout at the playground like steve showed you in his video) STA: 2; STR: 2; DEX: 1 grades:go all six mondays-miss workout once: A; miss 2 workouts: B; miss 3 workouts: C; miss more than 3 workouts: Fhow will i achieve this goal? its a matter of showing up. i will schedule my work around this workout and make it a priority in my calendar. II. let an agressive rapper chase you down the street! i started to run (listening to slim shady doing his thing) during the last challenge and finished a couch to 5 k programm ending it with my first race. i came in at 42:48 and had a great time. i have looked for a new training plan since to make me run faster. i will finish this plan by doing a 5k race in berlin on july 27th. run 3 times a week ( thursday, saturday, sunday). thursday: intervalls/tempo runs, saturday: long run; sunday: easy run. STR: 1, DEX: 2; STA:2. grades: all 18 runs completed - 2 runs missed:A; 2 - 4 runs missed:B; 5 - 7 runs missed: C; 8 - 10 runs missed: D; more than 10 runs missed: FIII. eat a darn sammich and stop obsessing about chow! this might seem a bit odd, but i chose this goal after making an effing religion about food and still not losing any weight to write home about. add to that the fact i am ridiciously broke..... and cant take warm meals to work because i am something like a streetworker without office... and you understand the sammich goal. i will prepare 3 healthy sandwiches for each day. apart from that ill eat raw veggies and a little fruit chopped up to go. to stop thinking about meals all the time i will eat the same things over and over again so i have time and energy for my new job, getting my degree in psychology (before turning 60 ) and the work life balance i need to stay sane. i counted the calories beforehand and if i stick to the plan i wont have to do any tracking during the challenge... CON:3. grades: sticking to my mealplan for 42 - 38 days: A; 37 - 32 days on plan: B; 31 - 26 days on plan: C. less than 26 days on plan: FIV. resist the flickering screen and kiss someone lovely instead! i sure like my little flatscreen telly, but i need to get get a life too. unplugging completely is out of the question, but i will start weaning myself off this little bugger slowly. also i will pause my weightloss blog because i want to walk the walk and stop writing inspiring posts instead of actually losing. week one: no tv on 1 night.week 2: 2 nightsweek 3: 3 nightsweek 4: 4 nightsweek 5 and 6: only 2 nights in front of the tube allowed! CHA:1;WIS:1. grades: plan followed without cheating: A+, cheating 1 - 3 times: A; cheating 4 - 6 times B; cheating 7 - 10 times: C. everything else: Fi am all exited and motivated! will post short daily reports in this thread... so stay tuned!