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Mistr tries something completely different My New Year's resolution for the last few years has been the same: get more sleep. My success has been mixed at best. My sensei says "secret of the samurai: more of what's not working does not work". So for the next two challenges I'm going to change my focus. 1) Do fun things. I have a lot of internalized guilt (in my grandmothers' voices) about not getting all the things done. My family would be happier if I let that go and relaxed more. I don't need a goal to tell me to do the essential things, I already have an internal nag for that. I do need encouragement to do my own things. A. In a fit of enthusiasm, I signed up for the geekiest thing ever: Yarn Quest 2018 - The Steam Age. This is a role-playing game knitting challenge. I've created my character and her feline companion (all the characters have feline companions). Every week the author sends out a new chapter. In it are instructions on how to roll to determine what happens with your character. You find out the results by knitting the charts that correspond with the rolls. At the end I will have a scarf that tells my story. The timing fits nicely with the next two challenges. The clues call for knitting 80 rows a week. Yesterday was a holiday and I got about 10 rows done. It may be a stretch for me to keep up. I'll give myself credit for getting 3/6 charts knit each week. B. To avoid making fun into a chore, I'm adding a second option of doing other fun things. These are creative things. Socializing is a different beast. spinning yarn/carding wool knitting on my ongoing sock project embroidery on either of my ongoing projects weaving playing piano reading for fun 2) Make good use of my time. Mostly this means not goofing off on the internet because I don't want to do something. Also not reading junk mail at the kitchen table because I don't want to do chores. I hereby give myself permission to do fun things before chores. A. Lunchtime. Use my lunch hour for my stuff. Exercise, meditation, Duolingo, knitting, reading - anything is okay. Just get away from my desk and use the time. It being too cold to go outside is no excuse. B. Evenings. Choose one fun thing to do first or between chores. Not last. 3) Sleep is fun. My bed is comfy and warm. Remember this on cold winter nights. Reading in bed counts. So does knitting in bed. Go to bed. I still want to keep doing exercise and meditation. I decided against doing a Zen challenge from my zendo. That has a minimum of 20 minutes a day for a year with only 5 missed days. I fell like it would be more stress instead of encouraging me to sit zen consistently. Another thing I want to do is keep up on logging. There was a whole week over the holidays that I missed. I want to have the data on what I'm doing and how it is working. Metrics: report here at least twice a week.

Challenge 34 (continued from zero week) I know the path I want to be on. I was following it for a bit, then had to take a detour. I can see it over there on the other side of the gorge. Right now that looks a long way from here. I still think I picked the right goals in my last challenge. This challenge will be looking at strategies to reach them. Goals: 1. Sleep 8 hours a night 2. Exercise every day 3. Zen at least 10 minutes every day 4. Do the Right things, not All The Things. Over the last couple weeks I have been in the rat race of not getting quite enough sleep, being too tired to be efficient, drinking coffee and staying up too late. I've been sleeping well most of the time, possibly due to taking melatonin. On top of not getting enough sleep I am not getting enough relaxation time. I can look back and see in glowing memory the breaks when I got to sit down to read or play games. I was still sleep deprived enough to need a nap at the end of my 4-day Thanksgiving break. Exercise was going better then got off track again. I have used the local exercise facility by my new office at least twice. It's okay but not great. The elliptical machines have too much rise to be comfortable for my knees. There are exercise bikes and treadmills that I can use, and enough floor space for body-weight work. I've been good about doing yoga at home on days that I'm not doing aikido. I could do some juggling of time to do more exercise at home and other things on my lunch hour. I'd rather stick with the habit I already established to have my lunch hour as workout time. I have been doing NF yoga at home and enjoying it. Work has been busy and is likely to get busier before it gets better. There should be light at the end of the tunnel by March. We are currently doing in-person interviews for our open positions. The best-case scenario has us filling three open positions by the beginning of January and getting the new people trained over the following 10 weeks. Thank goodness our workload usually drops off over winter holiday season. Getting on top of my other goals will help tremendously in me not getting stressed out at work. Picking the Right Things to do at home is my main focus. So many choices! Most of which are valuable in some way or other. Dumbledore has been taking care of his regular chores and has zero time for anything else. Elf is supposed to be sharing the cooking with me. I have to give Elf credit for taking initiative in cooking. It does not always happen when they said it would, but that is true of me too. We started a list of who is thinking about cooking what food so that we don't both plan a dish using the same groceries from the fridge. I need to stay on top of keeping actual meals in the fridge. Two weekends ago I worked on other projects. We ran out of lunches before the end of the week (before Thanksgiving). That leads to the following priorities: Cooking as needed (often, but not all the time) Finances/budgeting. I let this slide and it adds to my stress. Creative/relaxing things. These usually come last and I get cranky. Not a win. General chores. Most of these could wait longer or be done by other people.

Mistr gets on track Challenge #32 Some parts of my life are going well but others are off in the woods. I want to get on a better track than the one I was on before. 1. Sleep 8 hours a night. The last challenge I proved again that 8 > 7.5. I can be semi-functional on 7.5 hours of sleep a night. Also grouchy. That extra half hour of doing stuff before bed is not making me a happier camper. Cut it out and get to bed. Scoring - made it or not. On weekends I am allowed to nap prior to staying up late. Napping the next day does not count. 2. Zen. My instructor told me in September that I was not seeing results because I was not being consistent. So be consistent. At least 10 minutes zazen a day. More is great but does not count extra. Ditto for walking meditation outside of class. I prefer to sit zen when the house is quiet. I need to remind myself that quiet is nice but not necessary. I just need to be in a place where no one is going to talk to me. Rather than waiting for other people to go away, I can take my cushions and set up in a different part of the house. Chances are good that the laundry room will be available if the upstairs is full of people. If monks can sit outside on mountain tops, I can sit anywhere in the house or in the yard. If I leave meditation until after work, make an effort to do it before dinner. Right after dinner is a bad time because food coma does lead to a clear mind. Right before bed is fine provided I do it early enough to get to bed on time. Which has been a problem, so watch that. 3. Exercise. I got frustrated with the GMB Elements program last week because I have a hard time with some of the movement work. I like their warm-up and mobility routine. It has made a difference in my being able to get into a deep squat. Getting into one and moving in one are two different things. I feel awkward enough doing the frogger and monkey variations that I'm not sure I'm getting anything out of it. The earlier weeks had shorter intervals. I can do a minute and feel pretty good about it. Taking the basic movement up to five minutes (with breaks if needed) was a stretch. Doing 10 minutes was too much. I'd like to come back to Elements again after doing a different mobility program. I want to feel like I am making steady progress to motivate myself to keep working out. Frustration is not motivating for me. At the aikido seminar last weekend it was obvious that having an integrated body is essential for making technique effortless. My body is far from integrated. I also need mobility work to regain range of motion and strength in my legs and shoulders. Plus the foundation of core strength and cardio/endurance. My current plan is to cycle between my current core routine (planks/supermans), HIIT on the elliptical and NF Yoga. I'd like to try out a different yoga if anyone has recommendations. 4. The right things, not All The Things. Continuing from my last challenge, work on making good choices about what to do and when. Hopefully doing better on items (1) and (2) will help me with this.

Challenge #31 - Mistr looks back This challenge marks four years on NF. I started as a rookie (with @Teirin!) back in August 2013. This time instead of looking forward, I am going to go back through my old challenges and log books. I will look at how far I have come and what I still need to do. Week one: August 2013-July 2014 Week two: August 2014-July 2015 Week three: August 2015-July 2016 Week four: August 2016-July 2017 Hopefully by week four you will have forgotten what I was doing over the last couple months and it will all seem fresh.

Mistr plays with the pieces - Challenge 30 The theme of this challenge is to try fitting pieces together in different ways and decide what I want to keep using. Unlike @sarakingdom, I do not know exactly who I want to be. I completed a major goal in April. Since then I have been trying things out and taking time off. Pieces to play with include: Aikido. How often do I want to practice? How often do I need to practice to keep making progress? Archery. This is a new thing that I want to include in my next level. Maybe not precisely a new thing. I did archery for a season in junior high. I'm going to say that any skill I haven't used in over 30 years counts as starting over from scratch. Zen. Ongoing. Sometimes it seems to be getting better. Lots of times I avoid doing it at all. I signed up for a retreat the first weekend of the challenge. I'm feeling nervous about that. Putting it here may help me not make excuses to avoid it. Exercise. My previous program let me make gradual gains in strength, but was not sufficient to keep my knees happy and healthy. In my May challenge I tried the GMB Elements program. That did some good things, but I felt like it neglected core work. It is supposed to have a good strength component. I think I am not yet flexible enough to make that really work. One of my options for this challenge is to work through the Elements series again. Sleep. This means getting to bed early enough to get 7.5-8 hours of sleep. Resisting temptation is part of it. Planning ahead and prepping clothes and food for the next day earlier would be smart. Not trying to fit in ALL THE THINGS would help, but that is not likely to happen. Household stuff. The guys are getting better about sharing the cooking and cleaning tasks. Elf is doing a lot and Dumbledore is making an effort. Hermes is missing in action - working 60 hours a week. My goal here is to get my part done efficiently without procrastinating and to negotiate about which parts are mine. Not to assume that if I don't do it, no one will. That might be true, but I need to ask first. Fun stuff. Allow time for some. Even plan ahead to do fun stuff with other people. Radical notion. To be updated as needed.

Mistr takes it on the road - Challenge 29 I will be travelling for the last two weeks of the challenge (plus the previous weekend). My goals for before then are to get everything together so I can leave with no worries. Phase I = weeks 1 and 2 1) Trip planning Make sure my travel SIM card will work. It did not work as advertised on my trip in January. Investigate car rental in England Wish list of places to visit in England Wish list of places to visit in Paris Get out luggage, make sure it fits size restrictions Print and download maps Buy power converters Set out clothes to take Buy travel insurance Call financial institution Make sure Dumbledore and Elf have phone cards that will work Get VPN apps installed on phones and tablets Read more travel guides Buy water bottles 2) Home front tasks Write to-do list for Hermes Make sure bills are set for auto-pay Take care of loose ends at work Work on garden Clean house before we leave Make granola bars and trail mix packets to take along House meeting to come up with a working system for sharing cooking responsibility. May have to be scheduled for after we get back. 3) Exercise/Aikido Not a goal so much as documenting maintenance activity. Continue the Gold Medal Bodies Elements program. I expect to finish the seventh and last week of the program by the end of week 1. Continue with exercises in week two, adding lots more core work. Aikido as usual 4) French This one is to keep my momentum up. I've been enjoying learning some French with Pimsleur audio lessons and DuoLingo. See how much I can learn before we leave. Today's lesson is on asking for directions. I can see where that will be good to know. 5) Meditation/Food/Sleep Keeping life together. All of these are essential and not quite where I'd like them to be. Make good choices. Phase II = weeks 3 and 4 1) Be flexible. This will be the first time Dumbledore, Elf and I have traveled together. I've done long trips with Dumbledore many times. Dumbledore and Elf have done several trips and got along well. We will be going places that none of us have ever been and doing new things. Practice my best blending and observation skills to have a great time and prevent tension. There is no way to see everything. Don't get attached to any specific plan. 2) Maintain good habits while travelling. I did pretty well with this when I traveled with my mom earlier this year. My travel food strategy is to eat veggies and meat as much as possible, avoid filler carbs (bread, rice, potatoes, etc.) and have all the dessert I want. Pack fruit and granola bars. Meditate Exercise. I have yoga videos, the GMB program worksheets and core routines. No excuses. I'm sure we will walk a lot. No scoring this time. Post here for accountability.

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it. Lao Tzu I can't believe another challenge cycle has spun around again. The new timeframe seems to be uncannily aligned with my life's rhythms, to boot. Life is frequently like that.Last challenge I learned much - so very very much - about how love is stronger than fear. It was a lesson I understood intellectually, but had no true grasp on, and I delved in to put the principle into practice.It was as hard as it sounds. At times, I could not imagine how to release the fear, let alone find the love, but it was there, the whole time, waiting for me, whenever I was ready to receive.And now, armed with a new understanding, I can move into practice a step further, finding strength in the softness, in the compassion, in the unity. For we are all one; to injure anyone is to injure myself. I have no enemies other than myself. Unity can heal all divides.This challenge I flow forth as water: welcoming, accepting, unifying, undeniable strength through nurturing and softness. My tools along the journey are simplicity, gratitude, stillness. The sauna and the hot tub, the keyboard and printer are my allies. As a river does not flow in a vacuum, I will lean on my supporters and support others in turn. We will do more, together.

The end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016 were very trying. The overload of emotional stress was overwhelming, and it took a lot to dig myself back out of the hole I was sitting in. I haven't quite reached the top yet, but I am getting closer to the opening. I am so happy to be jumping back into the challenge routine. I am keeping things very simple, but effective. Quest One: Eat Three Balanced Meals Every Day I'm really terrible at making sure I eat a breakfast and a lunch. I usually end up either not having breakfast and going right to lunch, or I eat a very late breakfast (brunch?) which means I skip lunch. By dinner time, I'm starving. This goes hand in hand, in my opinion, to making sure you're eating the right amount of calories/fat/sugar/etc. If you're not eating, you're not getting the amount your body needs, which doesn't help in the health and nutrition field. Did I have a breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day during the challenge? Yes or No Quest Two: Drink 8 Glasses of Water Every Day I had gone almost 300 days without drinking Soda until the second week of December 2015. I drank a total of five sodas, and I regretted it afterward. I felt so sick since I had not had any soda for so long. Needless to say, I have been successfully cruising along the No Soda road since then. However, I am not drinking nearly enough water, or I am trying to cram all glasses at one time in the evening. This should not be difficult because water = feeling good, no headaches, and no body aches. Among other healthy positives of course! Did I drink 8 glasses of water every day during the challenge? Yes or No Quest Three: Yoga for 10-20 Minutes I feel off my yoga train as well, which is very sad. I keep saying that I am going to get back into the routine, but I need to push myself to do it. I have been doing a lot of re-reading in the Academy, and I want to make this commitment to myself. I want to show myself that I am worth those few minutes every day. Even if it's every other day, I am allowed to take that time for myself to work on a better lifestyle. Did I do 10-20 minutes of Yoga for, at least, three days a week during the challenge? Yes or No Quest Four: 15 Minute Sketching To work on leveling up my life, I am going to take 15 minutes every day to sketch something. It does not have to be perfect or complete, but something will have to be on the paper. It can be anything! Rather than continuing to say I need to get back into drawing and art, I will do it.

In my past challenges, I thought that I had good plans in place and simple goals, achievable goals. For some reason, they haven't worked as planned and even though I always start off like gangbusters, around the third or forth week, it seems to fall apart. With that in mind, I am going to throw all the specific plans away and do the plan of no planning. Instead of being detailed and strict with movements and goals, this time is going to be do what I do as long as I do something. My goal of better kicks is still the main focus but it's time to take a different path to get there. 1. Kick every day No specifics here, just do some kicks every day. I can be 1, 10 or 100 kicks with each leg the only requirement is to kick every day. The kick doesn't matter as long as some type of kicks are done. 2. One exercise every day Again, no specific exercises but they have to be related to my hips, glutes, abs or core in general. It can be one or 10 but at least something. 3. Stretch every day A single stretch every day no matter how long it's held, dynamic or static or a full routine, stretching needs to happen. Life goal: Clear my head of what's not needed This is one area where I am struggling and doing something to help me get focused on what I need to focus on and not focusing on what I don't need to focus is becoming more important. Walking, meditation, sitting in seiza for a few minutes or breathing kata could be some of the things to help me get in or out of my head. There may or may not be more to come to the plan of no planning....

This is going to be a challenge worthy of the name. I have loads of work this trimester, so this will be a good moment for me to learn that I can be hyper-busy while keeping control of my life and attain my goals without letting anxiety overflow. Goal 1. Be zenLara. Meditate, breathe, move, rest, and read and think my affirmations. Goal 2. Music is life. 1 hour of flute practice 5 to 7 days/week plus extra time on weekends, including stage fright preparation, plus half an hour 3 to 4 times a week for the recorder. The difficulty resides on finding time for an extra instrument in a period of the scholar year where my performance duties have already increased. I have also several projects at work with my students that can't be postponed. I should include here the tap dance solo I need to get ready for the end of this challenge. Goal 3. Keep moving! It belongs to the anxiety group of activities, but as this is a very important item I'll treat it as a goal on its own. Strength workouts, tap dancing lessons, running and walking outdoors, short mobility work before sleep. What changes from last challenge is that I'd like to be more organized. Goal 4. The key goal. Be disciplined, be organized, keep track of every task, but have fun and don't be judgemental. Procrastination is not allowed, but neither are critizicing or judging. Focus on the process and stay positive. Write down a positive things list. Mentally rewards after every action that helps me leveling up. Goal 5. Life support goal. Eat big and fatty, chew my food, take supplements and sleep well and enough so everything else is easier. Emergency alert. If I feel anxiety is piling up and I don't seem to be able to handle it, I'll do like I did last challenge and stop some activities for a few days: work goals will be put on standby until I recover and I'll do less of everything. Health and peace of mind are more important than work or good performances. Rewards. I want to focus this challenge on immediate mental rewards. I want to learn to reward myself for those little everyday actions I do against chaos. If I finally plan some mid-challenge, fourth-week or final material rewards, I think I'll better choose things that will help with anxiety, such as taking a massage or having a day-off or going to some beautiful place. Points to achieve level 6. STR 1 If I get to do at least 8 strength workouts (goal 3) DEX 3 If I get to finish my tap solo for the end of the challenge (goal 2) STA 2 If I go out for a run at least 8 times (goal 3) CONS 2 If I sleep and eat well regularly so my energy levels don't go down (goal 5) WIS 5 If I succeed at goals 1 and 4 so I clearly level up (goals 1 and 4) CHA 2 If my work projects are done on due time and I get good results from my musical practice (goal 2) Here in Spain we are still on holidays and as I want to give myself every bit of this off-time, and also have to travel to Lisbonne and back next weekend, I don't think I'll start my challenge until january the 12th instead of next monday. Maybe I'll extend it another week to make up for the delay.

Hello Everyone, my name is David, I hail from Anaheim. I am nerdy, geeky, and into fitness. I love to one day be somewhat of a Jedi, but not like those Jedi that wield a lightsaber. I want to be like the Jedi Yoda, whom despite his physical stature can lift heavy things with a zen like attitude and being one with the force (if you will). Maybe the use of Force powers if you must. If you have ever done crossfit you know it is a pretty competitive environment. I do it because of the intrinsic value it gives me. It's my zen if you will. I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and bouts of Depression, but once I started crossfit I noticed a change in my disposition for the better. Anyways, I want to strengthen myself mentally first and foremost, but it seems to me that you have to work on both mind and body. Thanks René Descartes for the Mind-Body problem! Either way, I was born a Ranger, but with poor Druid/Monk mental stability to be one with nature and one with myself. Hopefully I can find insight in the Druid/Monk realms to strengthen mind, body, and spirit even.

Hello everybody, I've been here for a while, but this is going to be my first challenge. My main quest is about getting stronger. I want to be stronger enough to start doing cool things like cartwheels, handstands, frontflips and more. I know is a matter of posture and balance too but, really, I am that weak I can't do a handstand against a wall. Also, I want to go through this transformation while cultivating a zen state of mind to help me face life troubles more easily. The 3 specific goals I plan to achieve are: Establish a routine of 2 workouts a week for the first 3 weeks, and then go up to 3 workouts a week for the rest of the challenge. I've been trying recently to establish this routine, but life, in the form of a Prokofiev's chirpy bird, got in my way. At the end of the challenge I must be able to do at least one push up and to hold a 60 seconds elbow plank. As I am a very thin person who has tendency to loose weight, I'll be having an extra meal everyday to get extra calories. I've tried before too, but didn't succeed (again this damned stressing Prokofiev). Life related side quest I have to successfully complete my challenge while keeping the rest of my life going on. I've accomplished some nice things since I first came to Nerdfitness and the objective is to do this job without getting overwhelmed or sidelining other responsibilities or good habits I've already acquired. So I must keep on walking at least 2 miles a day (I am on a journey to Mordor), meditating 5 days a week, going to my weekly tapdance lesson, and working on my anxiety and stage fright 3 times a week. Gradings 2 and then 3 workouts a week: A. Only 2 workouts a week: B. Less than that: F. Reward (for an A only): I'll buy the GMB Floor 1 program I've been wanting to start. One push up and 60 seconds elbow plank: A. One push up and 50 seconds elbow plank, but a 60 seconds hands plank: B. No push up and 60 seconds elbow plank: B. None of those: F. Reward (for an A only): a box of raspberries and a jar of gelatin to make no-sugar candies. Eating an extra meal everyday, adding at least 300 calories: A. Eating an extra meal 6 days a week: B. 5 days a week: C. 4 days a week: D. 3 days or less: F. Reward (for a B or an A: a pair of Pies Sucios' huaraches). 2 miles a day + 5 meditation sessions + 3 stage fright sessions: A. 2 miles a day + 4 meditation sessions + 3 stage fright sessions: B. 2 miles a day + 4 meditation sessions + 2 stage fright sessions: C. 2 miles a day + 3 meditation sessions + 2 stage fright sessions: D. 2 miles a day + 3 meditation sessions + 1 stage fright sessions or less: F. Reward (for an A or a B, don't know yet). My motivation I am tired of being a weak person and having such a frail appearance. I want to be able to do cool things with my body, I want to experience what I am capable of even in this tiny frail body I've half inherited half built. I want to be the kind of person who keeps herself healthy as life goes by. And I definitively want to climb to trees. My workout routine is at this point right now: 7x7x7 Hulk lunges (5 kg.) 3x3x3 inclined push ups (very hard) 5x5x5 pistol squats (not the whole way downwards by now) 3x3x3 inverted rows (hard but starting to be easier) 6x6x6 chair jumps 20x20x20 seconds banana hold 7x7x7 chair dips 40x30x30 seconds elbow plank 8x8x10 bent over rows (5 kg.) 30x30x30 seconds side plank I'm thinking about adding some other upper body exercises, as it is there where I need to work the most. My legs improve faster, because they also benefit from tapdance and everyday walking. Advice is welcome. Well, I think that's all for now. Hope I'll complete this first challenge!! See you!

Greetings, druids. I have spent the last five challenges among the warriors, but have lost my way. Or have I found it? That's the question, and the quest. Main Quest: Be more flexible. Among the warriors, we work on things like mobility, range of motion, etc. But the bar is rigid and often unyielding. My relationship to the black iron has gotten...complicated, and I have felt at loose ends my last two challenges. Alienated from the path I'd chosen. It's time for me to try new things. So here I am. Open to possibilities and embracing changes. I have spent some time lurking your forums, druids, (sorry, is that creepy? That's creepy, isn't it. Apologies.) and thought perhaps flexibility of mind, body and spirit might be something to help me find my center again. Here goes nothing. 1) Yoga. I'm a noob, but I'm open to new things. I'm hoping this will help address my need for flexibility of body. I've signed up for the 30-day challenge from doyouyoga.com, and my goal (starting early!) is to try it all. Find what suits me. My leaning is toward gentle and/or restorative yoga as I've got an old back injury and some neuropathy issues to contend with. I'm eager to learn more! My goal is to attempt all 30 days videos by the end of the 6-week challenge. 2) Meditation. I've been working with the headspace app in the last few weeks, with good results. My goal is to create more time for meditation and work on flexibility of mind. Stress is something that plagues me (I know I'm not alone in this), and part of what has drawn me to the druids is the zen mentality. I'd like to embrace that--meditation is as good a place to start as any. Ten minutes a day, 5 days a week would be optimal, workdays in particular. I may adjust this as time goes on. 3) One new thing. I am a creature of habit. Recently, however, I've had several reminders that life is short, and it is what you make it. I'd like to go with some baby steps as I step out of my comfort zone and try one new thing (at least) each week during the challenge. This could be anything from trying new foods to accepting a last-minute invite out (I'm a planner, not spontaneous). This will likely be my biggest flexibility challenge, so if I can manage one a week, no matter how seemingly small, I'll count it as accomplished. Side Quest: Zen My Space. Five minutes a day to declutter my space, either my office or my home. I've done this side-quest in the past, and loved how big the changes were over the span of the challenge. Was looking at my coffee table last night and thought, yup, it's time to do this again. I leave with you with a cat doing yoga, because I am original like that.

Anyone have any recommendations for books on Zen for a person whose new to the subject?

I'm really, really lucky. Just wanted to get that out of the way, because what follows might sound a little bit like these first world problems. I assure you madam (or gent), that is not the case. I love being on the go. I can't stop thinking about that next hill, challenge, or awesome experience. Cliched enough as it is: life is short. The thought keeps me up at night and what compels me out of bed every morning. It's what drives me to say yes in fear of missing out. As awesome as that sounds, I've been feeling like this little guy as of late: I've said yes to too many things at once. It used to be that personal health would be the first thing to go in times of stress, but now with three past challenges under my belt, I've fortified myself against slipping and losing all of that progress. Which is great - except I'm bloody tired most nights and don't become particularly refreshed after weekends or vacations. Main Quest: Path To Greater Stamina, Everywhere It's time to strike another balance between my newfound enjoyment for exercise and the other facets of my life. Time is our shortest and most precious commodity. I'm trying become more selective without giving offence - coming up with different strategies of saying 'no' that doesn't leave the other party in the gutter or without options. Goal 1: Downsize Without Sacrificing Happiness (+5 CHA) Get used to saying 'no' to something on a frequent basis. Come up with different strategies on how to say no without offending. Prioritize what matters to me, and work towards those goals. Write it down. Goal 2: Find Better Efficiencies (+3 DEX, +2 WIS) Stop procrastinating. Identify one new area of blockage on a weekly basis and come up with personal deadlines to get things done. Goal 3: Bring On The Zen (+5 WIS) Block out one weeknight for an appointment with myself, and do something meaningful to recharge during that time. MotivationTo stop chewing my nails as a way of coping with stress.To take time out for people who matter most to me.To live in the moment instead of thinking about the next. The challenges above sound deceptively simple, and I think that's the whole point. I'll be maintaining all of my previous challenges (cardio, BW, working with personal trainer, eating well, stretching), so this is one additional layer of mindfulness on top. Instead of measuring myself up to a certain standard, or against the achievements of others, it's time to go flow.

So my local Sangha has recently moved to a location very near my house and I've been giving the Sunday service a shot for the past few weeks. So far I'm loving it, there's just one problem... My left leg keeps going completely numb after ten minutes (each set is 25 min). I have tried every form or cross-legged sitting I can think of with the same results. I always end up with said leg straight out in front of me, which is great for blood flow but not so much for my back. Sitting on my knees with a cushion or bench yields similar results almost immediately. The advice I've got from others there is to sit in a chair or use more cushioning. I sit all day for school, so I don't really want to use a chair and cushions don't seem to help much. Is there some trick I'm not seeing here? Is there some part of my body I can focus on strengthening that would help? Any tips for improving circulation in general? Suggestions would be very much appreciated!

*trumpets* It's time for Challenge 2 and I am ALL OVER IT baby! New to the Ranger's Guild, I am a dwarfish-sized person at 5'3'' and 166.6 pounds. I've lost about 26 pounds since December 2012 thanks to daily exercise and, in the last few months, clean eating. I don't do this to look good, I do this to manage chronic depression and anxiety and to increase my chances of living past the age of 50. The fit me is a MUCH happier me. This is me at the end of Challenge 1, sporting my custom-made loot: Challenge 2 is going to be all about nutrition! I realized I was going way overboard on the dairy products so I have decided to give the plant-based lifestyle a try. This was partly influenced by reading ''The China Study,'' though I don't think that book is the last word on nutrition, it certainly made me think. I have located some good guidelines, ''The New Four Food Groups'' from the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine so for the duration of my challenge I will be adhering to those. Now, just an FYI, this diet is to be inclusive, meaning animal products are fine as long as my daily plant-based nutrition goals are met. My main objective here isn't to become religiously vegan, but rather to crowd out some of the less nutritious stuff with more of the nutritious stuff. It seems to make a big difference in my mood. On to the goals... Main Quest: GIVE PEAS A CHANCE (try a plant-based diet) Goal 1: Eat an inclusive diet consisting of mostly plants +5 CONAt least 1 cruciferous vegetable each day, a minimum of 3 fruit and 4 total vegetable servings a day.Goal 2: Walk 3,000 steps before 10 am +3 STAGoal 3: Try a new item of produce each week +2 CONSide Quest: 1 hour of job hunting/professional development each weekday +5 CHA Walking 3,000 steps before 10am has the very specific purpose of trying to get me to spread my exercise throughout the day rather than just cramming it in at the end of the day. This will also help me get up and around every morning so I can work on job stuff. The Side Quest is probably the most important goal. As of September 1, 2013 I am jobless and the sooner I find work, the happier I will be. The last time I was unemployed turned into a depression disaster that dragged out almost a year, and I am NOT letting it happen again! LOOT: Battle Gear. This wonderfully silly t-shirt. I guess I'm collecting t-shirts as my challenge rewards. Which is good, because my current ones are too big now! So there you have it. Daily conditioning workouts will of course continue as well as my 10,000 steps a day minimum. I have my spreadsheet made and rarin' to go! WOOO!

Hello, fellow assassins! I'm on my third challenge and have learned a couple things. First, don't set overly ambitious goals. We're in this for the long haul, and setting the bar too high can demotivate. Second, don't let one mini-goal detract from your overall fitness routine. Last time I sought embarked on a program to do 100 pushups. While I achieved that goal, I did so at the detriment of doing other exercise. It required a LOT of arm strength, and not wanting to fail in this quest, I opted to avoid other exercises that might sap my strength. For this challenge, I am looking for more balance! Long-term quest: (This is a 100% continuation from the last challenge.) Become more assassiny by knocking off about 10 lbs so that the scale flirts with 13 as the first two digits. (Right now, it occasionally flirts with 15, which is the wrong direction!) Current goals to advance the quest: 1. Do bodyweight exercises three times a week. I’m not going to specify specific routines but instead strive for variety. Assassins need to be nimble. No narrow 100 push-up type goal this time. 2. Do a sprint workout once/week. This is a repeat from the last challenge. I’ll try to do my best to post my stick artwork, which I use to keep track of reps up The Hill. 3. Become more zen. I need to balance my hectic life with some yogo, meditation, reading and sleep. Life side quest: Continue to save $! We’ve got more tuition bills on the horizon.

Ok people. This is some exciting stuff. I just paid mega bucks for one of Ramit Sethi's courses. and I finished this book I've been working so hard I forgot that it's time for round 4! So tomorrow I will fill in all my wonderful goals for this 6 weeks. I'm so excited. But just know, that it's going to involve ZEN TIME MANAGEMENT MAMA as the main theme for all of my goals. haha. I've launched my site - and I think this is the biggest win for me that happened yesterday - officially after last 6 week challenge but is part of my epic life quest. *shameless plug It's all about traveling creatively - for those people who always wish they could travel Europe. We provide a way! /plug anywho. goals tomorrow! thank you my nerd fitness friends for motivating me to be awesome! I LOVE YOU ALL LIKE A DIRTY HIPPY.