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Annyshay blinked in shock as the outline of the Old Man faded into blue flames that disappeared just as suddenly as he had done. Who on earth was this Old Man that had been guiding her around the Great Plateau? She shook her head, half expecting to hear an answer from the strange disembodied voice that had started her on this journey by urging her to pick up the Sheikah Slate that hung from her hip. No answer was forth coming, so she was left alone with her thoughts. The Old Man had told her to head to the point where lines through the shrines that she had found would intersect. Looking at the map on her Sheikah Slate, it was clear that he meant the old, broken temple close to the cave where she had awoken in nothing but her undergarments just a few short weeks ago. Annyshay could remember nothing prior to waking up in that cave. She couldn't remember anything about who she was or how she had found herself in this strange wilderness. She didn't know much, but she knew that she wanted to help the princess that was fighting that Beast called Calamity Ganon. To do that, she needed to get off of this Plateau and out into the wider world of Hyrule. The paraglider that the Old Man offered was the only way that she knew how to do that. Well, sitting around staring at the Sheikah Slate and ruminating on what had happened to her in the last few weeks wasn't moving her any closer to getting the paraglider from the Old Man. She returned the Sheikah Slate to her hip, and climbed a nearby wall. She would have to be careful not to get into too many more battles on the way back to the temple as she was running out of weapons.

I was actually starting to make some progress, but after getting knocked down by a prolonged illness I now have to start again from the beginning and make my way back to the Great Palace. Frustrating but what can you do. Going to keep things simple and easy starting from scratch. QUEST #1 Create the Exercise Habit +1 STR, +1 CON Set my alarm to go off 20 minutes early every day. - 5 min warm up - 10 min of 2 barbell exercises - 5 min of jump rope If I can average 5 days a week then I will consider it a success. QUEST #2 Improve Mobility +1 DEX 10 minutes of easy yoga poses before bed. I am just becoming too stiff and tight all the time. EPIC QUEST #3 Bucket List Item +1 CHA I've always wanted to go to a baseball game in Wrigley Field. I'll be in Chicago later this month anyway so went ahead and bought tickets.

Hi everybody! My name is Annyshay. I'm an assassin adventurer from Hyrule. I've been wandering these wilds for quite some time now, but there's always more to practice and learn. I am committed to recovery (anxiety, depression, disordered eating, etc) in order to seek adventure and inspire others to rise up. Feel free to check out my battle log if you'd like more backstory and/or nitty-gritty details. Main Quest: Resilient and Radiant This challenge, I'm going to return to Zelda-dom for further inspiration. If you've managed to miss it somehow, I'm currently completely engrossed by Breath of the Wild. There's five billion ways that I could pattern my challenge on this game, but I'm going to stick to a relatively small part of the awesomeness in an area that I'm addressing IRL. Hopefully this will minimize spoilers. Idea shamelessly borrowed (heck, we're assassins here...) stolen from @Akura. I'll be collecting ingredients (goals) and using them to cook up some excellent meals (weekly summaries). I'll detail goals below, but I totally reserve the right to add bonus ingredients based on other awesome feets of recovery, cooking, or general badassery. Let's get cooking. For the Rebellion!!!

I'm late to the party, but that's ok. I got back from my cruise and then got sick. I'm still fighting the illness and it's driving me nuts. I want to get back in the gym. I'm still trying to eat healthy though. This challenge (or what's left of it) I will be focusing on getting back on track with nutrition and fitness. I will pretty much have the same goals as last time: Level Up Cooking: I will cook my meals all week and limit my eating out to 2 times per week. Level Up Fitness: I will go to the gym 4 times a week. Level Up Snacking: I will choose healthy snacks and limit sugar intake. I've been sick, so my Level Up Fitness will not be on par until I recover. Until then, I need to get back to healthy eating.

Guys! I've lost my wind, and I need to get it back! I was totally trampled by some kind of respiratory virus during the last two weeks of the previous challenge. I'm only just getting over it, and my lung health and overall endurance is pretty not great right now. This challenge is about recovery and getting myself back up to my previous workout levels. Incidentally, my DH bought me the WiiU remastered Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker game to help keep me from losing my mind during my convalescence. So I'm currently playing that (for the first time!) and conveniently it's an appropriate theme! Goal One: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." I am going to get better a lot faster if I eat properly. What does this mean? 1. Cut out the gluten. It for sure does not help my breathing. The best way to make me want this SO badly is to tell myself I can't have any though. I am going to accomplish this by not being crazy restrictive with carbs. Lesser evils. I will still aim for under 150 gram of carbs per day - this is higher than my usual 100g goal, but it means that I can have rice/potatoes if I need to to avoid the much greater issue of wheat. (1 pt per gluten-free day. Bonus point for carbs below 100g. -1pt for carbs above 150g) 2. Restrict the dairy. While I can handle dairy okay, it's not the healthiest thing ever, and is probably my biggest indulgence. Aiming for 3 dairy-free days per week. (1 pt per day). 3. Eat enough protein. Not only will this support my recovery, but it will crowd out less healthy food choices. 80g per day ( 1 pt per day) A : 68 pts B : 60 pts C : 54 pts D : 48 pts Goal Two: "Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time." I am wildly behind my yearlong walking goal (10,000 step average for 2017), because i was averaging between 2000-5000 steps while I was ill. Not only is walking a good way to build my endurance back up, but I will make up some ground on this goal at the same time. Aiming for 11,000 steps per day. A : 308,000 pts B : 294,000 pts C : 280,000 pts D : 266,000 Goal Three: "Tough times never last, but tough people do" My intent for this challenge is build back up to the level of workout I was at before I got sick. This will be accomplished by 3x workouts per week, of increasing intensity. Likely 2 of these will be gym workouts, and a supplemental yoga/kettlebell/bodyweight whatever, but as long as I hit 3 sweaty sessions per week, I'm okay with whatever it is. A : 12 B : 10 C : 8 D : 6 Goal Four: "I don't mean to be a diva, but some days you wake up and you're Barbara Streisand." I've decided to add a sleep/wake up goal. I feel better when I have more time in the morning, and I've been staying up too late to get that lately. The goal, on weekdays, is to be in bed by 10pm, lights out by 10:30. On the other hand, I want to be up by 6:30 at the latest. I'd like to get this to 6am, but baby steps. 2 pts per day. A : 40 pts B : 30 pts C : 20 pts D : 10pts

Annyshay... Wake up... Annyshay, the chosen one... I am Rauru, one of the ancient sages who built the Temple of Time to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm... This is the Chamber of Sages, inside the Temple of Light... The Temple of Light, situated in the very center of the Sacred Realm, is the last stronghold against the Ganondorf's evil forces.

Brutal Bears Wears Majora's Mask Introduction: Forest Temple: Stay strong: Lift 3 times a week Monday-Barbells, Wednesday-Mace Training, Friday-Dumbells Fire Temple: Burn the Calories Run three times a week (T,Th,Sa) Water Temple: Stay Healthy-Stretch after every workout and do yoga at least once a week Temple of Time: Keep my time managed. Priorities need to be in this order 1. School, 2. Work, 3. The Dogs, 4. Workout I will keep my daily/weekly to do lists/bullet journal to stay organized. I will post an update everyday on NF as well. I will also do more thorough updates every Sunday/Monday. Starting Weight and Picture: 211

Annyshay stumbles into her home and lets her pack fall heavily to the ground. Dragon greets her with his usual warmth and demands to be fed. Once Dragon's needs are attended to, Annyshay sheds her cloak and boots. She sinks into her well-worn chair and reaches for the scroll emblazoned with "For the Rebellion!" She sighs as some scenes from the last few weeks flash in front of her eyes - political unrest, friends consumed by despair, and harsh words that cannot be unsaid. The flashes of memory threaten to fill her mind with regret and worry, but Dragon jumps onto her lap and tries to insert his muzzle between her hand and the scroll. This movement reminds Annyshay of her intention, so she repositions Dragon and opens the scroll. She moves past her brooding to share these moments with her friends in the Rebellion. As always, the scroll lets her share in the struggles and victories of her fellow rebels. An all-too-familiar thought comes to her - you will never change. Annyshay notes the thought and renews her commitment to be the author and editor of her own legend (follow the link to my battle log and backstory), instead of heeding the thoughts that have so often overpowered her. She scratches Dragon's chin, takes up her quill, and begins to write... Quest the first - Post Daily on NF My rebels are my tribe. I value all of your kind words and love. Whenever I stay away from NF, I cut off my support system. That's the worst plan. Time to re-establish the habit of showing up here each day. Quest the second - Journal about Eating Nutrition is a big challenge for me, as my body composition currently shows. This is largely rooted in emotional eating driven by chronic stress. No diet or habit tweaks will complete this boss battle if I am not willing to examine myself without judgment and address my boss battle's root causes. Quest the third - Mindful Moments I'm stealing this from Headmaster Amy Clover of Strong Inside Out. Basically, I take a moment before any eating to check in with myself. Quest the fourth - Choose Love Cynicism and bitterness are natural responses to the challenges we rebels face, but with Jesus' help I will choose to act out of love. Love will be my modus operandi and will inform my choices instead of fear, anger, or despair.

The beginning part sounds a lot like Frog's Theme from Chrono Trigger. Later there is a very Zelda-ish riff. It's not a remix, it's original. One of my epic quests is to play a packed concert and MAGfest. I haven't decided what kind of show I would do though. Music like this? A remix concert? I don't know. Do you guys partake in game music, remixes, or MAGfest?

WHAT'S UP REBELS!!! Last month's challenge ended in a complete flop... but that's okay. I knew I had set the bar higher than would be advised, and I tried my best. I failed, but I learned from it. Let's do this again guys, and this time we're going to fly through it like falcons or something cool like that. Rad. THIS TIME AROUND I'm going to focus more on getting into focus, which to me means less worrying about exercise and more getting my brain into check. Of course, I'll still be hitting the gym and whatnot, but my challenge will be focusing on focusing. I'm thinking probably yoga/meditation as the main points. So let's get to it! - READY PLAYER ONE - My Main Quest: Lose to 175 lbs: I considered making yoga my main, but decided to keep this one instead of yoga. This is the same main quest as last month. I'm keeping it as my main quest for two reasons: 1) so I can do the dang thing and 2) because even though I'm teaching myself new things during each quest, my underlying goal is still to lose weight. My birthday is still a while off, but if I don't buckle down I won't reach my goal weight by then! So I'm keeping my main goal as weight loss. COMPLETION = 25 EXP!DAILY Training: Yoga! Either from my DDP Yoga dvd's or from a youtube clip, I want to do yoga at least twice a week. I'll probably be going with slow, stretch-type yoga (as opposed to hot yoga). I wonder how many times I can type yoga before you guys start to get annoyed. Yoga. COMPLETION (8 DAYS) = 25 EXP! ; -3 EXP per day missed.Meditation! Same as yoga, I want to do at least two meditation sessions per week. Meditation takes too long to type out to see if I can annoy you by saying it a bunch of times over like I am with yoga. Yoga. COMPLETION (8 DAYS) = 25 EXP! ; -3 EXP per day missed.Skill School: Sunday Food Prep: I say 'food prep' because I'm not going to make all my meals that day, I'm just going to prep the ingredients, AT LEAST THREE CONTAINERS PER WEEK. Again this is a repeat task from last month (unlike yoga and meditation, which I didn't do last challenge). I've knocked the container count down by 1 per week, because I failed this last time. Hopefully I'll be able to manage it this time around! 12+ CONTAINERS = 20 EXP ; 7-11 CONTAINERS = 15 EXP ; 6- CONTAINERS = 10 EXPSide Quest: Dance Dance REBELLION! I miss dancing, so this challenge I want to make a point of learning new dances because putting it in here gives me an excuse to learn new dances! Yoga doesn't count as dancing, although some yoga is like dancing and yoga instructors are sometimes dancers. No experience points for this one, just happy points! If you have suggestions for dance tutorials post them in the thread!! I'm planning on just watching videos made by my old line dancing teacher, but I'm always open to new suggestions! Yoga.

GREETINGS, FELLOW REBELS. Is everyone else as excited to get this challenge going as I am?! LET'S PAR-TAAAY. Background I'm Zho. 26, female, 4'11", 136 pounds as of this morning -- my lowest weight in 10+ years. Torn between classes -- perhaps assassin, or ranger? My fitness goals can be summed up as something between "functional strength and movement for everyday life or emergencies" and "do cool stuff." (Oh, I forgot "look freakin' amazing." That's in there too.) I want to be able to lift heavy things for my day job, flee from an attacker if I have to, do a pull-up, hold handstands, etc. I really like parkour and Ninja Warrior stuff, but I won't be getting into that until later this year, probably. I also challenged my sister to a virtual 5k in April, but I have no idea why because I have zero openings to actually train right now. I'd probably never progress beyond a 5k; I'd rather get faster than go farther (further?). So, yeah. I'm all over the place. Anyway... let's move along, shall we? I was going to save the Zelda theme for another challenge, but I just can't help myself. It's my thing. Zho Tests Her Courage 1. FIND A SWORD & SHIELD. Strength training, at least three times a week. This challenge will cover weeks 2-5 of the beginner strong curves program. A = 3x/week | B = 2x/week | C = 1x/week 2. BE BRAVE. TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND. Practice handstands at least three times a week. 20 minutes of training each; this includes rest time. A = 12 sessions | B = 9 sessions | C = 6 sessions 3. LISTEN TO YOUR FAIRY. Maintain and follow my weekly meal plans. This one comes with a LOT of variables and mistakes (I've only just started weekly meal planning), so success hinges on if we pick up fast food for dinner (unplanned), or if I clearly overeat that day. A = 4 (or less) bad days | B = 7 bad days | C = 8+ bad days 4. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. Fun life goal! Post a daily drawing in this thread. It doesn't have to be on time or drawn that same day, it just needs to be one fairly clean or finished drawing for every day of the challenge. A = 22+ days | B = 18+ days | C = 13+ days Rewards My 4-week reward is one shirt based off the theme of my next challenge. Here's what I'm currently considering: One, two, three, four. I might do a two-week reward of $10 towards more equipment, like ankle weights and socks. ;)

Annyshay was rudely awakened by Navi in July 2015 (for more details, see her battle log). She has come a long way since she was first summoned to the Great Deku tree and swept up in an adventure far bigger than herself. So far she: listened to her fairy (start days with quiet time with God) found a sword (daily movement) bought the deku shield (mindful, level 5 meals) followed the dungeon map (GMB Elements!!!!) aimed the fairy slingshot (craving control habit) used the compass (tracking nutrition) recovered gold skulltulas (meditation, studying, and recovery) cut lots of grass (5-6 vegetables per day) watched the weird egg (posted all non-paleo food) broke some pots (rewrote my “finished a task habitâ€) listened to Kaepora Gaebora (tracked on spreadsheet) Although her body composition remains far from ideal, she has made great progress on her journey towards the Triforce of Awesome (healthy, happy, look great). Her current habits work well. She doesn’t know exactly what lies in front of her - likely new cities, new dungeons, and entirely new races of people - but she continues preparations for the epic life ahead of her. Main Quest - Improve Body Composition by Easter (3/27/2016) Hylian Shield - Eat at the Table Eat at the table. Just eat. Stop doing everything else. This is a habit I need to recultivate in order to defend against mindless munching. Cucco Wrangling - Mindfulness Mental chatter and thoughts are often like cuccos. There’s a lot of cuccos running around my mental Karkariko village. Mindfulness, writing, and other introspection skillz help me to get these suckers back into their pen where they belong. This will be a free form goal where I continue to meditate and write about keeping my headspace healthy. Goron Bracelet - Integral Strength Integral Strength will make me strong enough to throw bombs, make me the bomb... or something roughly equivalent. Anybody who has been here before knows that I am WAY EXCITED for this new program from GMB after all the success I had with Elements. Also, GMB respects the triforce. Ocarina of Time - Self Love That’s right, Zelda and Shakespeare. Calm down. I know you can handle the awesome. Here are the “songs†I’ll be practicing (at least one daily) during this challenge:zelda’s lullaby = writesun’s song = natureepona’s song = animalssaria’s song = music Kaepora Gaebora - Spreadsheet I know, Kaepora Gaebora can get a little… well, annoying, long-winded, and detailed. Still, he keeps me on the right path. Much like my trusty spreadsheet. So, I’ll try to be patient and check in with him regularly. Off we go! PS... we're starting NOW!

My previous Battle Log is here and gives some of my fitness background. It's time to start my journey over in a more focused way (and prove Navi wrong).

Main Quest - Weigh Less than 160 lbs by 3/27/2015 From - this lovely artist, minionslayer Dungeon Map = GMB's Elements Any explorer or potential hero needs to know where she is and where she's going. She needs a plan, or you might say a map. Luckily, this hero stumbled across an excellent plan from Gold Medal Bodies called "Elements". It focuses on helping explorers develop "physical autonomy", which they describe as a balance of strength, flexibility, and motor control using a familiar symbol given to us by the goddesses. I want to move well, and I'm sick of reps and sets, so this is the map that I'll follow for the next phase of my quest. Fairy Slingshot = Craving Control Habit I really wish that I had a weapon that could help me knock down cravings before they take hold and change my behavior. I'm imagining a ranged weapon that would be small and easy to take wherever I was going - something sneaky and micheivious, like a slingshot! I've used mindful eating a lot in the past and found the book Eating the Moment very helpful for exercises and experiments to continue developing my skills here. I plan on writing about my experiments here as I practice. Compass = Level Up My Diet My weight has not been going in the right direction lately. I've learned that drastic changes do nothing to help in the long term. I already eat fairly clean paleo, except for the occasional victory of my sweet tooth. Forbidding certain foods works for a little while, as does calorie counting... but restriction just beeeeeegs for a binge. So, in keeping with the above, I want to experiment until I find a reasonable in between. Tracking carbs in MFP for a while and then transitioning into healthier habits with some mental calculation. Gold Skulltulas = Extras I will count up the days that I do each of the following for at least 5 minutes. If I get more than 90% in any of the three, I earn that gold skulltula. 1) Meditation and Quiet Time 2) Study 3) Active Recovery (foam roll, nap, stretch, walk, etc)

Hiya! Dark_Lady_Link here trying out this 6-Week-Challenge thingy. Sorry I'm a bit late getting started, but I'm super excited about getting into the real life role playing and I couldn't wait for the next one to come around, so here I am! I think I'm supposed to say some things about myself here to, so: I go by Grace, I'm 19 and of the female variety. My nerd cred comes mainly from the Legend of Zelda series, with a bit of Skyrim and Wow mixed in plus a lot of book reading. I love dancing of all sorts, hiking, skating, and trail riding. I had asthma as a kid that caused me to me fear/hate running, and I haven't done it since. Up till last November I've never even tried to care about my health - I've never been particularly unhealthy, but I've never been fit (I've weighed between 175-185 for the past few years, and I was always 10lbs or more over the healthy weight for my age before that). I joined the rebellion because I decided to finally take control of my health and because I really want to do cool stuff like run a Warrior Dash or be able to look good in a cosplay. So here I go! Main Quest: Become able to run for 3 minutes without stopping. (I can only go about 45 seconds right now) Quest One: Do three Zombies, Run! 5k sessions a week. Measurement: A = 2 strikes* or less, B = 3-5 strikes, C = 6 strikes or more Reward: A = +3 STA, +2 DEX, B= +2 STA, +1 DEX, C = +1 STA [* I get 1 strike for every ZR session I skip (so if I only do 2 sessions in week 1, that's a strike).] Quest Two: Drink 16oz of water a day. (Some days I don't drink any water, and drink juice or milk instead, and I need to fix that). Measurement: A = 112oz or more per week, B = 96oz to 111oz per week, C = 95oz or less per week. Reward: A = +3 CON, B = +2 CON, C = +1 CON Quest Three: Do at least 1 hour of miscellaneous (skating, hiking, yoga, etc.) exercise outside of my house per week. Measurement: A = 5+hrs, B = 4-5hrs, C = 2-hrs Reward: A = +2 WIS, +1 CHA, B = +1 WIS, +1 CHA, C = +1 WIS Life Quest: Journal 3 times a week. (I used to journal all the time, but haven't gotten around to it lately and I want to get back into it) Measurement: A = 18 or more journal entries, B = 12 to 17 journal entries, C = 11 or less journal entries Reward: A = +3 WIS, B = +2 WIS, C = +1 WIS My motivation is that I want to get healthy and into shape, but my biggest hindrance is going to be my aversion to running. Losing weight and building strength is nothing compared to this obstacle, so I want to knock it out first. I've always avoided it at all costs, even to the point that some of my childhood friends made fun of me for not keeping up with them on hikes because they would run ahead and I wouldn't. Running is my enemy, and even if I lose weight, I won't feel like I've conquered myself until I defeat my foe. I know that if I can teach myself to run (or even, by a miracle, to enjoy running), then I can do anything.

ZELDA: A LINK TO THE FUTURE It's 2015. Welcome to the future. Your consciousness has finally been downloaded into a computer. The singularity is upon us. Time to start figuring out how to use these virtual bodies. Since now you have the ability to create your own reality. You have of course decided to create the greatest environment possible by creating virtual Hyrule. You are awoken by a voice in your head telling your they are locked in the dungeon of a nearby Hyrule Castle. You wake up to see your Uncle getting ready for battle. "battle... must battle" he says. He leaves in a hurry towards the castle. You know that you shouldn't follow because you are woefully unequipped, but you feel compelled to chase after him. You come upon your Uncle. And it is not good. He has been mortally wounded... no hope. He hands you his sword and shield. You take them and carry on to find the princess. Now you are in this dungeon. You need to find Princess Zelda. Time to crawl through this dungeon and find her! THE RULES Let's get down to business. We are dungeon crawling during part 1 of this challenge. We have to crawl all the way to where Princess Zelda is being held. It's a pretty long way. We may encounter some baddies along the way so stay alert. Have your sword and shield ready (subscribe to this post). Our first team goal involves doing an Army Crawl. They look like this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qFeuj6hrKzQ One rep = both sides (left, right... right. left or however you accomplish that) You don't have to do forward then backwards. It is just recommended so you use alllll of the muscles and work your core hard, bro. TEAM GOAL = 1000 crawls/reps >>>A spreadsheet to tabulate your crawling progress.<<< Other rules: - Mini-challenges are not mandatory, feel free to ignore this one if you don't want to participate. Don't let mini-challenge hinder your own goals. - If you're not sure how to register something, post it here. - If you already have some army crawl-ing in your challenge, then yes! It counts for both - Keep it simple! - Don't hurt yourself! Every sleuth who competes in this mini-challenge gets +1 STA for crawling through the dungeon! Assassins, remember to be safe and have fun!

Comes to save the Princess Zelda. Listen to that song. Enjoy it. It will probably be stuck in my head for the vast majority of this challenge. I'm back. I have started - and quit - so many challenges on here that I'm not even sure if I did one with the Rangers a while ago or not. I have followed a few to the end, but never hit all of my goals. I'm not even sure that I've ever succeeded in more than one goal in any given challenge. I really wasn't sure if I wanted to do this challenge or not. Why? Because I'm tired of failing. Which leaves me two options. 1) I can stop formally trying. This is what I've done for the last several months. No plan, just general trying to make slightly better choices, which is very hit-or-miss. Mostly miss 2) I can jump back in and risk failing again. I was playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword the other day and I jumped for a vine, missed, and fell into a bottomless pit. Ouch. So, having not played the game before, I waited to see whether I would die or just lose a heart. And then Link just rematerialized on the cliff I had leapt from, without any hearts missing. So what did I do? The same thing again. For science, of course. Not because I'm terrible at video games. And again, I respawned. No game over. No health damage. It didn't even put me back at the start of the room. The original Zelda game actually counted your deaths, and displayed them on the start screen. The new one doesn't even seem to let you die, let alone hold it over your head to try to encourage you to improve. The thing about that is that I always hated having deaths in the original game. And at the beginning, it's *really* hard. Three hearts is not enough by far and it sucks until you get up around 5 or 6. I've probably spent hours replaying just the beginning of the game because I wanted to get through the first couple of levels without a death. Also because I'm extremely bad at that game, even though I enjoy the heck out of it. So how is that different than failing in real life and trying, again and again, to get it right? It's not. So if I just play Levels (or Weeks) 1 and 2 over and over again and get progressively better, then at least I'm improving, and eventually can get to the end of the game (challenge) without dying. At least in theory. I really didn't intend that metaphor to go that far, but it worked out pretty well. So since I was typing this without any real plan, it seems to me like I've got my theme, both short- and long-term. So time for take one. There are nine levels in the Legend of Zelda, but before you start Level 1 there are some things you can collect to make things easier: the wooden sword, bombs, three heart containers, blue candle, white sword, magical shield, arrows (though you don't get the bow yet), medicine, blue ring, and a ton of rupees, most of which are used to buy some of the aforementioned crap. So the point that I'm trying to make is that you spend a lot of time gathering your resources and getting the basics down. And that's exactly what I'm going to do for the next six weeks. So let's get started. The first thing you get is a sword. You use it to kill enemies. Admittedly, it kind of sucks. Well so does my upper body strength, so it seems like there's a good parallel there. In order to upgrade to the White Sword, I need to be able to do 10 pull ups. I can currently only do 1, though I could do 4-5 at one point, so hopefully it won't be as difficult to regain strength as it is to gain it in the first place. I'm going to follow this plan (http://www.kbnj.com/FighterPullupByPavel.htm) to get there. However, 10 is my stretch goal. I'll be happy with 7 or 8, and as long as I stick to the plan I'll give myself a passing grade. After you get your sword, you spend a lot of time running around. Especially if you've never played the game before and aren't cheating, in which case you spend a *lot* of time running around. Fortunately, I have played the game before (both literally and metaphorically), so my running will be kept to a minimum of 14 runs. I've never gotten quite to the habit of 3/week, but I feel like 2/week is doable. Especially since my running buddy is back in town. When I'm by myself I'll be doing Zombies, Run! You also need a magic shield, which is way better than the crappy little shield you start with. To get the magic shield, I need to record 100% of my food for 36/42 days. I did this in the past and got to the point where it was automatic, but I've since gotten out of that habit. This goal is solely for tracking. The hardest part of the game (for me, anyway) is only having three hearts. As I said earlier, I'm really bad at this game, so I try to get more heart containers quickly. For this goal, I will gain a heart for every 12 days that I'm under 2,000 calories. They don't have to be in a row. TL;DR Goal One: Pull-Ups for the White Sword Get to 10 pull ups. Or at least follow the plan listed above. Goal Two: Running to Explore Go for 14 runs throughout the challenge. Goal Three: Record for the Magic Shield Record food intake for 36 of the 42 days. Goal Four: Calorie Restriction for Heart Containers Be under 2,000 calories 12 days to earn each heart container. A total of 36 to get an A. Stats Starting weight: 164.6 (the highest I've weighed since I went past it on my initial weight loss) Starting waist: 35.5" Starting neck: 15" And I almost forgot my main quest. My main quest is, of course, to save Zelda. And what I mean by that is that my quest is to constantly improve until I've successfully completed a challenge for every dungeon. Also, I signed up for a Tough Mudder in Chicago next May, so I want to be able to survive that, which is why I've come over to the Rangers. It seems like that's more their area of expertise. I'm also going to note that I may start doing CrossFit halfway through this challenge. That will not, however, change my goals. It'll be like an added bonus.

It was the dawn of the Third Age of Fitness, two years after the back injury. The Achgiguwen Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to create a healthy lifestyle where I can truly enjoy the remaining years of my life by being active, free to engage the fun parts of life at home and homes away from home. It’s a calling, to be active, more fit, more restful, a better father, husband, and friend. I went from 255 to 320 during the back injury years. It’s not going to be easy but it’s my last best hope for health. This is the story of Achgiguwen, the lively one. The year is 2014. That name of the place is Nerd Fitness… Hello. My name is Achgiguwen. I’m a huge sci-fi fan and love Babylon 5. I used to be a wrestler in high school, martial arts in college, and taught gymnastics in my early adult years. I’ve always been a person who loved my endurance, constitution, and long distances. Life caught up with me: work, marriage, kids, injuries. I started almost 10 weeks ago at 320 pounds and not able to do many things that I love. I am now down to 288 pounds, and can now jog, and start to have fun with my kids and family. I still have problems bending over. Even though I'm better that when I started, I feel like I am still out of shape making it difficult to deal with the things life throws at me. My wife introduced me to Nerd Fitness, and she has been the rock that has kept me going strong. I am also on this mission so I can spend the best and remaining years with my wife happy and active. Main Quest: Getting into the shape I need to accomplish my missions. Signs and Portents part 2 – Challenge 2 All of my goals are set for the entire 6 week challenge, to help motivate and keep me on track. Goal 1 – The Parliament of Dreams: Like the Centauri, I love to eat.. especially at night within a hour before bed.... just a bedtime snack, like a small chicken taco. Since I usually go to bed around 10 pm, I plan to not eat/snack on anything after 8 pm. every night. The only exceptions is good fruit (bandannas or oranges), or one of my healthy (under 100 cal) fruit bars. This will be tracked on my battle log. Measurement Reward 42-37 successful days +3 Wis 36-31 successful days +2 Wis 30-25 successful days +1 Wis Goal 2 – The War Prayer: A racist group is terrorizing aliens on Babylon 5, stabbing and branding them. I need to search all of Babylon 5, that means all 5 miles, all 100 levels, of all 6 sections. Measurement Reward 100 miles +3 Sta 60 miles +2 Sta 30 miles +1 Sta Measurement Reward 1000 flights of stairs +3 Dex 600 flights of stairs +2 Dex 300 flights of stairs +1 Dex Goal 3 – And the Sky full of Stars: Just like Sinclair's mind is being rebuilt, I need to build an entire world for my D&D group. I need to finish castles, countries, monsters, maps, adventures, NPC's, and other stuff. Measurement Reward 10 hrs +3 Cha 8.5 hrs +2 Cha 7 hrs +1 Cha Goal 4 – Death Walker: "Death Walker" has been spotted on the station. I plan to make sure I"m not her next/last victim. I intend to beat the 6th Temple of the Legends of Zelda workout. I want to accomplish this by doing the workout twice a week, completing 1 new temple a week. Measurement Reward Complete temple 6 +3 STR Complete temple 5 +2 STR Complete temple 4 +1 STR

See the full challenge description for details. This is the abridged version. I feel like I've been going in circles for these past challenges. Nothing sticks for longer than a challenge or two. That's not a good reason to give up. And there are good reasons to continue. But it's a good reason to re-examine my strategy. But that is not a good reason to take a break. So I'm doing a "normal" challenge of sorts, but the actual task is to spend this time thinking about how to not go wrong again. Goals (as a homage to The Legend of Zelda, because Triforce, and I approve of trying force): Power: do Convict Conditioning exercises daily. Includes low-intensity, "off-day" exercises. Details to be posted later. Wisdom: rest enough, at the right time. Because sleep is an important part of health. Courage: apply for a job (as a Ph.D. student). Because selling oneself is scary. But necessary. Yes, if you read any of my previous challenges, then you've seen this before, in one way or another. That's the point. This isn't supposed to be novel, this is supposed to build a foundation. One that outlasts more than just a couple of challenges. Comments requested. Thanks for visiting.

It was the dawn of the Third Age of Fitness, two years after the back injury. The Achgiguwen Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to create a healthy lifestyle where I can truly enjoy the remaining years of my life by being active, free to engage the fun parts of life at home and homes away from home. It’s a calling, to be active, more fit, more restful, a better father, husband, and friend. I went from 255 to 320 during the back injury years. It’s not going to be easy but it’s my last best hope for health. This is the story of Achgiguwen, the lively one. The year is 2014. That name of the place is Nerd Fitness… Hello. My name is Achgiguwen. I’m a huge sci-fi fan and love Babylon 5. I used to be a wrestler in high school, martial arts in college, and taught gymnastics in my early adult years. I’ve always been a person who loved my endurance, constitution, and long distances. Life caught up with me: work, marriage, kids, injuries. I am now 320 pounds and not able to do many things that I love. I have problems bending over, going for long walks, and playing with my kids. I feel like I am out of shape making it difficult to deal with the things life throws at me. My wife introduced me to Nerd Fitness, and she has been the rock that has kept me going strong. I am also on this mission so I can spend the best and remaining years with my wife happy and active. Main Quest: Getting into the shape I need to accomplish my missions. Signs and Portents – Challenge 1 Goal 1 – The Gathering: The five major spacefaring races of the galaxy meet for the first time. Find 1 new food or 1 new healthy recipe to cook once a week. Measurement Reward A: 5-6 +3 WIS B: 3-4 +2 WIS C: 1-2 +1 WIS Goal 2 - Midnight on the Firing Line: The Narns are attacking Ragesh III. Run for your lives. Walk 5 miles 3 times a week gradually adding wind sprints working up to 6 sprints across the width of the football field. Measurement Reward A: 3/week +3 STA B: 2/week +2 STA C: 1/week +1 STA A: 6 sprints +3 DEX B: 4 sprints +2 DEX C: 2 sprints +1 DEX Goal 3 – Infection: A deadly weapon from a long-dead civilization that is revived and wreaking havoc on the station. I need to get stronger to fight the bioweapon. Beat the 6th Temple of the Legends of Zelda workout. I want to accomplish this by doing the workout twice a week, completing 1 new temple a week. Measurement Reward A: complete temple 6 +3 STR B: complete temple 5 +2 STR C: complete temple 4 +1 STR Life Quest - Soul Hunter: A soul hunter has arrived on the base. I must calm my mind to hear the calling. Meditate for 10 minutes 3 times a week. Measurement Reward A: 25-30 minutes/week +3 CON B: 20-24 minutes/week +2 CON C: 15-19 minutes/week +1 CON

MAIN QUEST My final boss battle is to be a Parkour Guru. This is my first dungeon along the journey. My goal this time around, to put it simply is to gain muscle (specifically 'round the pecs) and lose fat (specifically 'round the hips and belly) This is gonna burn, so I think we'll call it THE FIRE DUNGEON. Currently you're like the dragon sitting on top. You wanna be like the little dude in green there. DUNGEON BOSS "You are short, stocky, roughly pear-shaped. Your chest is 36" and your waist is 36.5". Add one inch of circumference to your chest and drop one inch of circumference from your waist." DUNGEON MAP Bulk up Bodyweight Exercises. Perform Steve's The Beginner Bodyweight Workout on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Leave the Fat Behind with Cardio. Commit to at least 2 sessions of cardio a week. Check out "Zombies, Run!" That looks pretty neat. No More Sugar. Come on, you know better. Eat a leaf or something. SIDE QUEST You lost all your pull-up strength when you had a surgery. For an extra strength point, perform a pull-up or a chin-up every time you pass under the pull-up bar. Side quest achieved when you are able to perform 3 perfect chin-ups and 2 perfect pull-ups. MOTIVATION You don't drink beer, and yet you have a "beer belly". You recently had a chest reduction surgery and you want to look your best, don't you? You paid $6000 to help you on your quest to give you the body you want and there's no way in hell you're going to waste it on Red Bulls and Gummy Worms. You will make this thread your home page and look at it every day. Best of luck! It's dangerous to go alone, take this.

I'm new today I just joined the Rebellion today after following the blog for a few weeks. I am a science teacher in London so a total nerd, although I have an active social life. I have was motivated to do something about my health as I have started to become a heavier and heavier smoker, and after 10 years of smoking I wanted to destroy that filthy habit but wanted to focus on exercise and diet that would keep my metabolism up (it drops when you quit smoking). I hate the quit smoking websites as they are all about "NOT SMOKING" (its impossible to keep trying NOT to do something without focusing on something else), and to be honest I wanted to think about positive goals that I could distract myself with. I also broke my leg last year (I drunkenly jumped over a wheely bin and broke my fibula) and that meant I stopped exercising for a LONG TIME. I made excuses to myself the whole time, and I ended up drinking and smoking too much. The ending was that I gained about 22lb heavier than my original weight in only a few months. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I quit smoking almost a month ago, and every time I feel like I want a smoke I eat LOADS of vegetables or lean meat to fill me up (close to a full Paleo diet, but occasionally I like toast, or a burger!), or I run, do press-ups, planks etc. I know have more motivation than I ever have done as I feel I have SO MUCH MORE ENERGY... can't wait to try the six week challenge. Like to see myself as a slightly chubby LINK from the Legend of Zelda... a massive underdog but with the Triforce of Courage, anything is possible. Looking for tips for good fitness / achievement goals. Please share with me. Alex

Hello everyone! On the Accountabilibuddies spreadsheet, I've created the group 'Courage, Wisdom, and Power' which, for those of you who for whatever reason don't know, is based on the Triforce of 'The Legend of Zelda' fame. This is a group created to provide accountability, morale, advice, and comradery to anyone looking to step outside of their comfort zones and try new things, educate themselves on how to sustain healthy habits and lead a healthy lifestyle, and increase their over-all fitness. Whatever your personal and specific goals are, we will be here to support you 110%!!!

EDIT: I found my original posting of this (oops, guess i should have looked harder), and i don't know how to delete this extra one soooo... just think of it as a reminder! Hey guys! I could swear I made this group earlier in the week, but I guess not... Anyway. I welcome you all to Courage, Wisdom, and Power, our totally awesome Accountabilibuddies group! Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. At first, there were just two of us. I checked out the page today hoping maybe one of two more people had signed up, and boy, was I suprised to see the group filled!! So welcome, LadySpazalot, Arawlins, Achates, Hollyvonne, Tankgrrl, and JediMom!!! As I'm sure you're all familiar, the goal of this group is to encourage you all to step outside of your comfort zones and try new things (courage), educate yourselves on how to sustainably lead a healthy lifestyle (wisdom), and become bigger, badder, and better at your personal fitness goals! EMBRACE THE TRIFORCE!! Honestly, these traits don't even need to be limited to fitness. It you want to be courageous and talk to that cute barista, or maybe try sushi for the first time, do it! You want to learn more about quantum physics or just pick up a new book, do it! Want to be more assertive, or just take charge of a particular situation in your life? Yep, that's right. DO IT. We would really like to hear about all of your 6 week challenge goals (if your doing it), or any other goals you might have. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and if you have any constructive feedback, feel free to share. We're all about support and betterment here. Now then, allow me to step down from my apple crate, and open this mofo up to everyone! Good luck, and again, thanks for joining!!