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Well, nothing is more inspiring than anime, amirite? With a new season of My Hero Academia released, I figure that'll get me all hyped for a new challenge theme. So without further ado... “If you wanna stop this, then stand up! Because I’ve got one thing to say to you. Never forget who you want to become!” -Shoto Todoroki Goal #1 Train Like Deku I often feel like I got handed the controller with the game difficulty set to extreme mode. If that's the case, then Deku started his journey on Nightmare mode. “I have to work harder than anyone else to make it! I’ll never catch up otherwise..." Consistent, intentional movement is essential for health, weight-maintenance, strength, and general ease of doing life things! With 6 years of NF experience under my belt, I know what works best for me based off past challenges. The new twist is to take it as slow as a I need it. Gains will come at their own pace. Doing the thing for the simple reason of "it's good to do it and my body will thank me" is enough. Track: Move 5x/week 2-3 must be strength days. Other days can be ANYTHING, even just a leisurely walk, or hike, or yoga/stretching. Goal #2 Be Cool and Composed like Todoroki (when it comes to food) I too quickly lose my composure when it comes to foods I like. I need to be more collected and thoughtful with it. Hah, every time I am about to go stupid on food, I will picture this look from Todoroki. “Get a hold of yourself, you’re an adult aren’t you?” I did very well last year Sep-Jan by doing two things. Cooking at my friends house for every night we had D&D or gaming, and making sure to then use those left overs on a subsequent night. And also calorie tracking. I don't feel I'm in the best place mentally to count calories again just yet, so we're doing a 1-2 week 'Don't Eat Like a Dick' mode of tracking food where I will update my daily meals and make mention if I went 'bingey' or not. If I feel like that is working and I see the first hints of progress, I'll stick with it. If it doesn't curb my game night fiascos, then weeks 3-5 will go back to tracking in MFP. TRACK: Keep a food log daily (concise/simple) If binging still a problem by end of week two, Weeks 3-5 track calories 6/7 days. Goal 3 - Create like Yaororozu! Keep up the creating of things. The more I work on it, the more I'll be able to create. "We should always start with the basics to develop depth of learning. We must strive to devote ourselves wholeheartedly." I love doing art. I've been on a great streak with #inktober - but I don't like putting in honest work sometimes... it's easy for me to look at a reference picture and just draw and tweak it for my own. I had been gaining progress and skill on drawing totally free form before I stopped going through the lessons and tutorials on Udemy. So, take Momo's advise here and get back to the basics. I have 3-4 courses I can work through and I want to do that and keep in better practice! TRACK : Maintain #inktober until the end of the month. Remaining weeks: 1-2 lessons/week; art practice /doodles 3X/week And that's it for hard goals. I've not completed a challenge in a while, so we're not going overboard with this. Food and exercise getting back under real control is the priority here. Art has been great for me mentally lately, and so that makes it on the board as well. I will probably set some weekly "to do" list type goals, and re-tweak finance stuff going into the new year, but these are the focus.

I’ve been noticing a trend in myself -- the small changes are harder than the big changes. I can go for lunchtime walks. I can make myself workout or run. It’s the little things that keep getting in my way… so this challenge will be all about treating the symptoms of a passively healthy lifestyle. Getting proper hydration. Getting a minimum amount of steps in. Staying in a net range of calories. The things that should be mindless at this point. Main Goal: Build better simple habits to improve my overall fit life to maintain or decrease my weight or measurements as a sign of personal improvement. Goal One: Yellow Exercise 4x per week (bonus point for 5) 4 points per week; 20 points available Goal Two: Red 4,000 steps minimum on work days 5 points per week; 25 points available Goal Three: Blue 60oz of water a day 7 points per week; 35 points available Goal Four: Multivitamin Net 1500 calories a day. 7 points per week; 35 points available Let's do this! TOTAL POINTS: 115 30 Points Defeats RED 35 Points Defeats BLUE 40 Points Defeats YELLOW Beginning measurements: Weight - 165lbs Hips - 42in Waist - 32in R/L Thigh - 25in/24.5in R/L Arm - 12.5in/12.5in Chest - 31in Bust - 38in Ending measurements: Weight - Hips - Waist - R/L Thigh - R/L Arm - Chest - Bust

The bad news is this... Been soooo long since I posted here... So much has happened... The good news is this... I joined the Academy and said F%&K it to all the haters in my head. No turning back.

Well after my relatively successful last challenge I am back and moving forwards again. After a brief discussion with my Bec I have decided to focus on these next three tasks from my list of things I need to be doing to get back on track. So here they are. Goal One: Morning and Nighttime Routines From the Art of Manliness website I have read about the importance of having a routine in the morning when I first get up and one at night before going to bed. So I have written up simple instructions for my morning and bedtime routines. The plan is to stick to them everyday. I think Constitution and Wisdom are the appropriate stats here. Critical Hit: 6+ times per week 4 points Hit: 4-5 times per week 3 points Block: 2-3 times per week 2 points Dodge: 1-2 times per week 1 point Miss: 0-1 times per week 0 points Goal Two: Walking the Dog Our pup Kodi, needs to be walked daily, I need to walk daily. So by putting the two together I have a goal for this challenge. I will use Map My Fitness to track my walks for accountability. Stamina and Constitution will be the Stats for this goal. Critical Hit: 6+ times per week 4 points Hit: 4-5 times per week 3 points Block: 2-3 times per week 2 points Dodge: 1-2 times per week 1 point Miss: 0-1 times per week 0 points Goal Three: Gardening It is spring and we still need to build vegie gardens [i failed to do this in a previous challenge] and get them going. I also need to get on top of the mowing and weeding. We have been at our house for a year and the yard still looks derelict. I am taking responsibility here for that and getting the garden sorted. It is my plan to spend about 5-10 hours per week in the garden. Aiming for an hour per day on average. Fortunately Map My Fitness has entries for both lawn mowing and general gardening. So I will use it to track my gardening time. Dexterity and Constitution will be the stats for this goal. Critical Hit: 6+ hours per week 4 points Hit: 4-6 hours per week 3 points Block: 3-4 hours per week 2 points Dodge: 1-3 hours per week 1 point Miss: 0-1 hours per week 0 points My remaining three points I will give out at the end of the challenge based upon what seems appropriate at the time.

[Explicit] I have been a long time away from NF, and a long time putting fitness on the back burner. It's time that I stop letting my excuses pile up and hold me down. It's time to stop letting the greedy little piggy whisper in my ear. I am the wolf, so let the games begin. Rule 1) Run 3x A Week [sTA +5] Rule 2) No Booze. [CON +5] Rule 3) Update 3x A Week. [WIS +2] Rule 4) Create A Routine. [WIS +3] These chains are heavy, if I'm going get them off it's going to happen one link at a time.

double post (dammit)

Current Quest: (PART ONE) 1/5 - 1/23 - Come Back from the Dead MAIN QUEST: Back to Basics :: Don't Suck I've been AWOL for about 3 months... Sigh. I'm lucky that my reason for being AWOL is that I got VERY involved in the play I was doing, made a bunch of new friends, and subsequently did a lot of this: Time to recommit and get ready to rock! Ultimate Quest: Survive the Zombie Apocalypse NECESSARY SKILLS: I will be focusing on... STR: Fend off zombies with brawn STA: Outrun hordes for long distances DEX: Be agile and quick enough to cover rugged, varied terrain effortlessly CON: Have the supplies and means to bunker down and equip myself properly WIS: Be wicked smaht. Because zombies are dumb. CHA: Charm the pants off of handsome survivors. Steal their shit. CHALLENGE PT ONE GOALS (First 3 Weeks) At the midpoint of this challenge, I will assess, assign points, and create a new set of challenges! (5 points possible for each 1/2 challenge) 1: Money, Money, Money I am starting a new teaching job! Long-term subbing is exciting, but it means 21 days of petty pay before the big bucks kick in. I need to be frugal for the next month! - NO FAST FOOD, Not even coffee! - Pay all bills on time - Stick with the alternative 52-week challenge (deposit anywhere from $1-52 per week, each number can only be used once. This allows greater flexibility in case of car repairs or other unexpected expenses!) 2: Get Apocalypse Ready (+3 STA) - Make my new gym membership worth it! Go at least 2x a week - Do the first three weeks of Couch-to-5k! LET'S DO THIS!

Moving right along, footloose and fancy free Alright, so for the viewers just turning in.... I'm PrincessHeather and I'm one of the Warrior guild leaders. I was once a severe calorie restricter and cardio punisher, but I have since see the light and I try to eat a mostly clean diet (paleo/primal/WAP mix) and lift heavy things. I started with completing the New Rules of Lifting for Women program, and then as life got busy things have sort of gotten off track and I'm finally in a place to get things back on the road, so to speak. I have about 1 month to finalize all elements of my final grad school project (after some major hiccups), and will graduate before the end of this challenge. I have also been unhappy in my job for the past 3 years, and I just this week left that job and started someplace new, which so far is just awesome! And I'm pretty happy and comfortable and adjusted to life in Alaska now, it's like 35 degrees and I'm not even cold! So things have fallen into place after all being thrown into overdrive last fall, and my hope is that will new focus and routine and the weight of grad school lifting off my shoulders, I'm going to be able to get my health in check and be better equipped to handle whatever new stuff life throws at me. GOAL #1: SURVIVE FINAL MONTH OF GRAD SCHOOL This is pretty simple, its pass/fail, as in GRADUATE OR ELSE. Final presentation is on May 13th. MEEP! GOAL #2: Get into routine with fitness again. I need to establish a new routine, as my job is in a completely different part of town and I'm already learning a new commute and job routine. Its, the perfect time to get things established. I was NO good at planning my own workouts either, and if left to my own devices I completely neglect upper body work. SO, I have embarked on going through the New Rules of Lifting Supercharged program. I know that Stronglifts and such are far more popular on the boards, but honestly that method has alwasy devolved in me doing squats or deadlifts and then going home, so it's just not righ for me. Supercharged has "basic training" up first which is split up into A and B workouts. Goal is one A and one B a week. Summer is also approaching fast, which means that GOAL #3: Stop eating like a crazy person! When we moved, all my habits and meal planning and cooking routines sort of got ruined... moving across the country will do that. I got hooked on junky stuff while travelling, and I'm really only now being more discplined and/or deliberate in the things that are worth it in terms of junk food or less than ideal choices. I'm trying to meal plan for real now, since that should also mean having more leftovers around for lunches, and keeping our grocery budget in check in a place where produce is super pricey. Let the internet hilarity ensue, like Statler and Waldorf here! TL;DR Version: 1. Graduate, it's that simple. 2. Lift 2x/week, at least one bonus activity (hiking/zumba/yoga/etc). 3. Rough meal planning is a must, and eat well. Starting Stats TBD

PrincessHeather must BE PREPARED Main Quest: So prepare for a chance of a lifetime! I am moving to Alaska. That's not just a fun factoid but a reality, and it basically means packing up, driving across the world, and starting over someplace new. That's super exciting, but also a cause to be quite possibly the most stressed I've ever been in my life. And since I'm honestly starting to think that all my hormone issues are linked almost exclusively to stress, this is no bueno. So my big overarching goal is to KEEP THE STRESS LEVEL DOWN, and be in a good place health wise when I move, which coincidentally is 2 days after this challenge ends! Goal 1: A matter of pride! My first ever program in lifting was the New Rules of Lifting for Women program, which I completed early this year. Since then though, I've just been floating around, not following anything in particular. I've been lifting, running, and doing crossfit, but without any real schedule or purpose. I considered starting the newer Supercharged version, but those workouts are long and I just don't have the time for them now. So instead, I will be following a very simple mantra: TRAIN TO BE AWESOME! I will lift twice a week, no more, even if I have the time, because 2x will keep me in the lifting game without being a burden and making me anxious. Stats possible: 3 STR, 2 STA Goal 2: Just listen to teacher! I'm a warrior through and through, because deadlifts make me feel badass. BUT, my background prior to discovering lifting is a lot of ballet, gymnastics, and lots of yoga/pilates. It's very calming, and very helpful with stress. I even have videos from my all time favorite yoga teacher that I can do at home.... so why have I not been? Goal is at least 1 yoga session a week of 30-60 minutes. Stats possible: 3 DEX, 2 WIS Goal 3: You'll never go hungry again! You know what's not so good for your diet? Going on vacation for 3 weeks to the state that has all your favorite food places and items unique to that part fo the country that you've been missing for over a year. I ate like a beast over the course of 3 weeks in California, with ZERO regard for health or paleo principles or reason. I had a lot of sugar, quite a bit of gluten, but it was all delicious and amazingly I only gained two pounds so no real harm there. However, I am now battling a cold and horribly broken out skin on my chin and back, which I'm fairly certain 6 weeks of solid MyPaleoTM should solve. I'm going to be pretty rigid here, and allow only one off-plan meal per week, and even then it should be as "good" as possible. Stats possible: 3 CON, 2 CHA Related Life Goal: Our teeth and ambitions are bared! I bought Well Fed for myself as a Christmas gift, and haven't actually used it yet. I love to cook and to try new things, but I tend to fall into all my go-to meals because it's easier and far more likely I'll have all the ingredients I need. But with a little planning, I should be able to try at least 3 new recipes during the challenge. That's only 1 every other week, a modest goal I think. My Motivation I am entering my last year of grad school this semester (yes, on top of moving and buying a house and everythign else), and will be all done by May of 2014. This means we'll be wanting to try to have some cubs next year (see what I did there?), but my hormones and lady business always seems so messed up. I have another follow up with a new specialist, but from all the blood work and ultrasounds, it doesn't seem like there is anything physically wrong with me. I may just be so sensitive to stressors that it messes me up. So in the mean time, I really need a handle on the stress so I can handle life better, but also because it'll set me up for success hopefully in getting pregnant down the road. TMI? haha.