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I'll try to lean into the roleplaying part of making a challenge and see if this gives me some extra motivation. I'm on my personal fitness journey for a while and have always done a little, but could never really get into it. I'm dreaming of my first pull up, but it's a long way to go to get there. So here's the story: Hey fellow rebels, I'm Agent Toracorbat. I've been on desk duty the past couple of years, but I've been asked to go on field missions soon. Of course, I said yes, but now I have to level up some skills to succeed. For the missions I'll need good endurance, hiking long trails in nature or commute under the radar in citys. Plus the missions lead me to (partly) french speaking countries. To blend in, I'll have to learn french. As you see, there's a lot to do. My goals for the next five weeks are: 1) Workout at least two times a week, but no more than four times a week 2) Spend two times a week, but no more than five times a week on focus training (like meditation) 3) Do 1 french learning exercise (no matter how small) every day It's my first challenge in a long time, which means part of this training will be to improve my training grounds.

The name says it all right? Goal 1, Qigong everyday in the wee morning hours. During those predawn hours is when qi energy is on the rise (supposedly), making it the best time to cultivate the qi. Anywho, it's convenient enough that I get home form my night shift job and have a couple hours to do this. And doing some light/gentle movement that's flowy and meditative is good to do at the end of a work day. Goal 2, MWF -- NF Academy Bodyweight workouts -- featuring qigong movement and breathing I also want to get back onto cultivating some strength again, so I'll follow the NF academy workouts. But... I'm going to do them with qigong movements. I think all the movements can be adapted to incorporate a tai chi/qigong feel. Like, slow down and breathe with the movement, do it with a sense of balance and attention, rather than just banging out the reps. For instance, last week I was doing some single leg RDLs... I turned it into a movement where I kick my leg back slowly while extending my arms forward in a push. Pushups, and squats will be done slowly, and I'll probably be adapting movements from my Kung Fu training where appropriate. Goal 3, TRS -- Ba Duan Jin -- Qigong routine Known also as the 8 Pieces of Brocade or 8 Treasures, this is a pretty standard Qigong routine. It will be my 'rest day' routine. Mostly I'm just doing this to memorize the form, and practice the movements. They all look easy, until you do it yourself and start picking out the details of the breathing and movements. In any case, it's a good routine for flexibility, coordination, and balance. Goal 4, Horde Money I've decided to start saving for a house again. I did a little bit of shopping online in the market here. There are some nice little houses for relatively cheap, I'd wind up with a mortgage less than my rent and I'd be earning equity so I ought to do this. I need a few thousand bucks for a down payment and fees to get things rolling. So I need to make myself work more hours and save aggressively. If I can manage that, I should be looking to purchase by the Spring next year. Goal 5, Write 600 words a day. Mostly self-explanatory. I'm working on a novel (one of three actually) and I want to see it to the end. It's a weird Western with supernatural and grim/dark fantasy elements about a gunslinger who can summon ghosts and is pursuing a cult leader who eats ghosts through a mysterious and vast desert where he meets a sorceress and dragon tamer who helps him track the cult leader. Or something like that.

Let's get to it! 1. Workout 3 x per week. Fell behind pace while I was gone, but not too far--I'd like to get back on track this challenge. 2. Salad cluuuuuuuuuuub. Things I love in salads right now: Fresh mozzarella, salami, olives. Lettuce chopped into tiny bits instead of big bits. Provolone. Red wine vinegar. 3. I am like water and will erode my backlog into dust. New strategy. As I approach the end of something I frequently switch to a different backlog thing because why? I dunno. My brain is dumb. So this month the focus is on my last three kickstarter rewards (I KNOW Y'ALL HAVE BEEN REALLY PATIENT ON THESE.) I have a list of tasks I need to complete to get these done, listed behind this spoiler alert b/c they're super boring but it helps me keep it all straight: I've put some time on the calendar, and I'm *also* going to try to work on this in between those times as well. 4. Go outside. I'd like to go outside at least once a day, five days a week. WORKING FROM HOME IS HARD OKAY. Other fun stuff happening this month: I'm planning a local writing retreat. I'm going to try some new (or long forgotten) activities: Rock climbing, a sensory deprivation chamber, and a ninja gym. Gonna buy an adjustable standing desk and new chair for my office -- any suggestions? I feel like I should have more things on my list, but...I don't know. I feel okay about this. I'll add stuff in later as needed.

Oh heeeeyyy guys! Only been, like, FOREVER since the last time I showed my face around here. A year and a half if I remember correctly. I'll catch you guys up a little bit before getting to my respawn challenge. 2018 was a fucking year - there was a lot of growing up and self acceptance. Certain events earlier in the year forced me to do some serious introspection: figuring out who the fuck I am, who I want to be, what I’m willing to accept in my life, what I absolutely will not put up with, and where I want to go from here. For the most part I think I’ve figured it out, and things have been a lot better since doing so. Summer and fall went smoothly and everything was going well, but as we all know, life likes to take us by surprise. In November I got laid off, but thankfully I was only unemployed for a month and a half. I love my new job - it’s definitely one of the better ones that I’ve had, even if I had to accept a bit of a pay cut. It’s also way closer to me. I had an 80mi round trip commute at my last job, and this one is only 12mi. Literally the next town over from where I live. It’s super convenient. As far as fitness goes, when I left you at the end of 2017 I was at my heaviest - almost 180lb. I put myself on an intermittent fasting plan, and over the the course of 6-8mo I lost ~30lb. I did gain back a few pounds over this past holiday season (so much delicious, delicious food), but it doesn’t bother me. When I started my journey with NF in Oct 2014, I was 152lb. I was miserable about it and the goal was to get back to my high school weight (139lb). While getting back to that weight would be pretty cool, it's definitely not my goal any more and I can honestly say that I have no problem being in the low 150s. In fact, I’m pretty fuckin comfortable in/with my body right now. Seeing how my mindset and views have changed over the last 4.5yrs is mind blowing; I never thought I’d get to the point where I actually kind of love myself and my body. That just about catches you all up on my absence, so on to my respawn challenge! Usually I like to have a theme or something, but I’m going to be keeping it pretty simple so I don’t get distracted.. 2018 involved a lot of mental growth, so I'm dedicating 2019 to physical growth - fitness, hard skills, and putting plans into place. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Self care: Journaling There were a lot of anxiety attacks and depressive episodes over the course of last year. I get overwhelmed with my own thoughts very easily, and it consumes me. I used to journal regularly back in the day, and that’s something I want to make a habit again. Getting stuff out on paper just makes everything that much more manageable for me. Frees my mind up a little bit. Usually I find a blank sheet in one of the many random journals I have, but I bought myself a new notebook so that I can start this habit fresh. *Goal: Write in journal at least 4x/wk. Can be anything from a few words to a few pages and everything in between. I just need to get something out in order to manage my stress level. Diet: Water No soda I’ve managed to cut down my energy drink intake a lot (oh Redbull, how I miss you), and some of my soda intake. Now I need to work on increasing my water intake. I joke that I’m a cactus and don’t need much water, but I know I really should be better about it. Now I need to cut out that soda habit completely - end of story. *Goal: Drink 60oz of water 3x/wk (Mon, Wed, Fri) *Goal: Stop. Drinking. Soda. C'mon Ruth, it's not that fuckin hard. Use that stubbornness for something good for you. Fitness: Routine While I spent a lot of time reigning in my diet and getting the weight off, I never got back to working out. Other than urban exploring (which, to be fair, does involve a lot of walking, stairs, and climbing of stuff), I haven’t done shit. I’ve been feeling really weak and easily winded lately and it’s driving me nuts, so fitness is going to be a big focus. *Goal: Full body routine 3x/wk (Beginner bodyweight or NF kettlebell) Skills: Photography Since getting back into the afore mentioned urban exploring a few years ago, I have taken up photography a fair bit as well. They kind of go hand in hand. Christmas 2017 I was gifted a lightly used Nikon D3300 and kit lens so that I could take my photos up a notch (I had been using my phone). I bought a guidebook so that I could learn to use it, and eventually learn to use the manual settings. While I did figure out how to use the camera in auto mode, I never got around to learning manual. For the last few months I haven’t even touched the camera, if I’m totally honest. I just haven’t been out and about, but I want to get back to using it and picking up the skills to use it properly even when not exploring. *Goal: Each week learn a new step/skill and perform 3 practice sessions (at least). At end of 4 weeks, review each skill/technique. (Zero week will be used to break down the guidebook into weekly skills/techniques.) Week 1, Chapters 1&2 - A.) Back to basics: reset camera to factory settings, then update to book recommended settings. B.) Back to Basics 2: Get a feel for the camera in it's 'out of the box' form to use as a control. Can compare photos down the road as I learn more. Week 2, Chapter 3 - Auto Modes: take some time to try out the auto modes available on the camera. Week 3, Chapter 4 - Professional Modes A: begin practicing using the manual settings and adjustments Week 4, Chapter 4 - Professional Modes B: continue practicing using the manual settings and adjustments Zero Week - Review Other: Updates Keeping up with my challenges in the past has always been difficult for me for whatever reason. So, I’m going to try and correct that by setting aside specific times each week that I will use to update. You may or may not see me update outside of these times, I can’t promise anything. In addition, I’m going to set aside tentative times during the week to try to catch up with everyone else. *Goal: Challenge updates on Mondays and Thursdays @ 7pm (I will start typing up my updates at 7, so expect posts after 7:30pm) *Soft goal: Catch up with others on Sundays and Wednesdays xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I still have a bit of finalizing to do on the side, so I will not be counting zero week towards the challenge. Anything that I do end up doing this week is a bonus. Down the road I would like to count zero weeks as part of the challenge, but I find that it's a good time for me to do planning. I try to start while the current challenge is going on, but then I get distracted/excited and Ranger BrainTM kicks in. So, at least for the first few challenges that I'm back for, zero week will be a planning week and continuation of the last challenge.

Back for another challenge! This challenge, I am going to add in some actual fitness into my goals, so I know the Pain Train will be coming for me. Those DOMS will be killer. Still, I know I need to get more going in my fitness if I ever want to get to my fitness goals. I also have weight loss goals, but that is really going to be a side effect of how I do with all my other goals. I want to get to the 100 lbs gone mark before my birthday (November 2nd). This means first goal is to drop 17 more pounds. 2nd goal is to reach the 250 mark before the end of the year. It might be tough with holidays coming in a few months, but I believe I can do it. 253 lbs is the lightest recorded weight I have. I was 225 pretty much all of my middle school years like 30 years ago haha. With all that, let's lay out the goals for this challenge. Goal#1 - Keto, Tracking, and even more IF So really the backbone of all this has been me eating Keto since the beginning of the year. Yes Keto isn't specific for weight loss, but it has helped me. I don't feel as restricted as I thought I would. Plus, even with some hunger cravings I do get, they are not nearly as bad as I use to be. So being in Keto does really help suppress my hunger. Once again, stay under 20 net carbs. Track everyday in MyFitnessPal. Do intermittent fasting with my eating window of 11 am to 6 pm. Now to kick it up a notch. I have been wanting to try it out, but just never have. The 24 hour plus fast. So during this challenge, I choose Tuesday as my non eating day. Water only day. This will actually be more like a 39 hour fast if I stop at 6 pm on Monday, then eat at 11 am on Wednesday. It sounds crazy to me, but why not give it a shot. Keto+tracking+normal IF = 1 point per day. 7 points per week. Fasting day complete One Meal done, eating after 3 pm = 5 points. (if this is too rough, I can cut it out later, or scale it back ) 12 points total per week Goal#2 - Read, Rest, Recover, Repeat The sleep challenge is back. Basic rules still apply. Computer off at 11 pm. Then reading started by 11:15 pm. Off to bed at midnight. Though a few minutes is acceptable if I am finishing a chapter or something. I'll need to make sure my sleeping is on point, because I will need the rest with Goal#3 1 point for reading on time, 1 point for sleep on time (no later then 12:30). 2 points per day, 14 points per week. Goal#3 - Bring the Pain Here it is. Another attempt to get exercise added into my life. I signed up for the NerdFitness Academy recently when it was on sale. Now time to use it. I will start off with body weight workouts, and eventually go on from there. I also am going to add in walking each day. I would get hung up on numbers in the past(and I am sure I will again), but my goal is just to get out there for a few minutes. Not just walking the dog around, but going myself to walk. I looked up a near by Pokestop in Pokemon Go. There are a few at the Fremont Library. So each day, my goal is to walk to the pokestop and back. Each morning I can probably bust this out fairly quick. There will be some adjustment though for when my son is back in school. I'll deal with that when the time comes. I will also have some weekends that I go drive for a hour + to bowl. Those days I will need to just figure it out. Monday, Wednesday, Friday = Workout days. Everyday is walking day. At least 15 minutes. 10 points for each workout. 30 total for the week. 3 points each day for walking. 21 per week. 51 points total per week. Goal#4 - Don't forget the list! Yeah, that is correct. I need to finish moving in! I'll see how much more I add to the list as time goes on haha. Unpack computer area boxes Hang new shelves Hang pictures Apply window tint Build my LEGO! (Doctor Who, and Voltron!) Register for classes Get back to checking blood sugar levels Longer term list items: Get through my sports cards (massive downsize) Board/Bag/Go though all my comics Try to sell off my old bowling balls/equipment Start sending off pictures/slide/videos to get digitized (very expensive, but a little at a time will help) No points for this goal, I just need to get it done. Measurements: Day 1 / End of Challenge Neck - 18.11 in / 18.36 in Chest - 49.37 in / 48.85 in Waist - 53.30 in / 52.71 in Bicep(L) - 15.11 in / 15.03 in Bicep(R) - 14.84 in / 14.84 in Forearm(L) - 12.59 in / 12.08 in Forearm(R) - 12.59 in / 12.36 in Thigh(L) - 26.10 in / 26.10 in Thigh(R) - 25. 98 in / 25.86 in Weight - 281.1 lbs / 275.8 lbs Points Week 1 (08/13 - 08/19) - 52/77 - 67% Week 2 (08/20 - 08/26) - 0/77 Week 3 (08/27 - 09/02) - 0/77 Week 4 (09/03 - 09/09) - 0/77 Challenge total: 0/308

At the end of last challenge, @Manarelle pointed out that if maintenance is a challenge, it's a challenge! So not many changes here: Quest #1: Three workouts per week, at least two with full cool down. I know I've been moaning about how this is going to be hard with my sister here and today just proved it. Tuesday, when she was sleeping, I felt a-ok about working out, even after she woke up. Today she was up before me and I was like, 'OMG EXCUSESSSSS'. WHY AM I SO WEIRD ABOUT WORKING OUT IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. I tried to let myself feel the full measure of disappointment that I missed this, so I can remember that and have more motivation not to miss again. In any case, I got over this with my partner and I'll get over it with her. I am going to share my workout schedule with her so she knows so I have even a bit more accountability and maybe even a buddy sometimes. Quest #2: Lights out by 10:15 pm every night plus get out of bed by 7:25 am. Yup, same as before. I'm trying to sort out what my ideal get-out-of-bed time is. I think it's 7:10, for Reasons that are opaque to me. Today I messed up on these, which contributed to my "omg I am going to skip my workout" issue this morning. Quest #3: Go for a 10 minute walk four days a week. I am groot. I am groot. I am groot. Quest #4: 20 mins on kickstarter, five days a week. The kickstarter ended, it was an amazing success, and...now I have fucktons of work to do! I want to get this done ASAP and keep up the momentum here. BONUS: 10 minutes of writing a day. This is what I wanted for my quest, but it also felt like piling stuff on since I know I'm going to be really focused on the KS reward production. I feel like my mental state is a bit unsteady at the moment; I feel really full of fear and anxiety and questions and hopes and dreams and self-doubt. The only thing that reliably keeps me feeling good about life (other than sleep and exercise and getting outdoors, see above!) is writing, whether it's creative or journaling. So I will get bonus points every day I do 10 minutes of writing. Goals check-in for end of 2017: NEED ACTIVE SUPPORT: WRITING: Finish my poetry kickstarter. DANCE: Finish my dance kickstarter reward. CAREER: Finish the sports card project I've been putting off. AUTO-PILOT/SUPPORTED: HEALTH: Do 104 workouts this year. (79/104, behind by 3) FINANCE: Establish $5k of planned savings. ($1650/$5000) LIFESTYLE/ENVIRONMENT: Read 16 books. (14/16) RELATIONSHIPS/SOCIETY: Finish She Should Run incubator.

It's my seventh challenge and I'm ready to do this! Whatever this is. I'm ready for that. --- Quest #1: Workout 3x per week (continuation/upgrade from last challenge) My yearly goal is to work out 2 x per week. I'm eleven workouts behind, so if I just add one extra per week, it's still gonna take nearly the rest of the year to catch up...which means it's definitely time to scale this up. The good news: I'm feeling really motivated to workout more. The bad news: More workouts take more time. So I will keep these workouts short and sweet. I will do them before work in the morning. I will succeed. Quest #2: Lights out at 10 pm (continuation from last challenge) I am still committed to getting to bed earlier, and my partner is in on it. Strategies that will help: Not overscheduling myself, heeding my alarms at 9:20 that I need to get in bed. Quest #3: Write a poem every other day and post it before 9 pm (continuation/upgrade from last challenge) This quest messed up my bed time quest last time because I like to stay in bed and write. I also feel more pressure to produce really good poems as the project goes on longer, so I spend more time on them. Which is fine--but I'd like to have a deadline. Quest #4: Manage my $$ (new quest!) I used to be A+ 100% amazing at keeping up with YNAB and various other money-related tasks. It's been minimum two months since I've done that. My partner and I have a shared money date (as we call it) and I have a solo money date where I sit down and do a bunch of boring money stuff and usually have a treat as well. I will reschedule my solo money time because it's still in the middle of the day on Tuesday...even though I haven't worked for myself in almost a year. I am committing to at least one session of one hour per week of managing my money, whether it is on my own or with my partner. Overall thoughts I wish I were doing a nutrition quest but I think the upgraded time commitments on both money management and workouts is going to be a lot to handle. I've pretty well built a habit of eating veggies where possible (okay, I don't order salad when I eat out because it makes me sad) so I'll keep up the basic levels of good eatin' I currently have.

I've always been a fairly active person, but the last few years I've been getting more and more sedentary (despite Pokemon Go). I started getting back into working out this past week. I've been logging my progress over on my tumblr: http://liampboyle.tumblr.com/post/148705874765/so-this-was-last-weeks-exercise-summary-this http://liampboyle.tumblr.com/post/148738098010/training-log-10-august-2016 "Before" picture to show what I'm starting from http://liampboyle.tumblr.com/post/148787291900/training-log-11-august-2016 http://liampboyle.tumblr.com/post/148837454530/training-log-12-august-2016 So here's the current workout plan: Taiji CMC/ZMQ 37 posture form - 1 round to the 1st cross hands - 2:00 minutes. Stretching - 5:00 minutes. Strength Circuit Training 1st circuit Bodyweight Squats - 1:00 minute Pushups - 1:00 minute Lunges (forward) - 1:00 minute Plank - 30 seconds Sit-ups - 1:00 minute 2nd circuit Bodyweight Squats - 45 seconds Pushups - 45 seconds Lunges - 45 seconds Plank - 15 seconds Sit-ups - 45 seconds 3rd circuit Bodyweight Squats - 30 seconds Pushups - 30 seconds Lunges - 30 seconds Plank - 15 seconds Sit-ups - 30 seconds The goal is to do as many repetitions as possible in the alloted time while keeping proper form. I then went to Indian clubs. Wrist/Shoulder rotations - 1:00 min External arm rotations - 1:00 minute each arm Internal arm rotations - 1:00 minute each arm Front and back sideways swings - 1:00 minute Arm Cross Swings - 1:00 minute Front swings with twirl - 1:00 minute Front and Back swings - 1:00 minute Yoga - 15 minutes (for cool-down) This is going to be my standard M-W-F routine. Tuesdays and Thursdays it will just be taiji and yoga.

I haven't been around in quite a while. While I was doing a challenge, I found I had to go to the doctor, because some stuff just wasn't right. I just couldn't make the goals I had for sleeping, loosing weight and a few other things. I already knew I have Sjorgren's syndrome and Fibromyalgia, but I didn't know I had sleep apnea as well. It's taken a lot of time to adjust to my cpap machine and find the correct mask. Then the doctor assigned me to get physical therapy 3x per week. (I was hit by a pick up truck in 2014 and still have a lot of trouble with my left knee because of that.) That's when I found out I also had Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), which the physical therapist fixed. Then I fell at work... and got a few previous diagnoses confirmed: Sjorgren's syndrome, check; Fibromyalgia, check; congenitally malformed spinal foramen which impinge on nerves when I have any inflammation, like when I fall. That doc sent me back to PT for three months. By then I'd kinda forgotten about Nerd Fitness altogether, but a friend has been posting about his progress with loosing weight and such on FB, and inspired me to come back and do a challenge again. In May my son devised me a challenge -which I started, but I didn't post it formally here. The challenge I'm posting is based on what he had me do (which was working exceptionally well ---until I fell in the kitchen and broke my nose... at which point I lost my momentum.) Diet: Drink 500 ml water every day --> Be drinking 2 liters by the end of the challenge. Fitness: Stretches: Warm up and cool down 5 min every day. Any of a variety of stretches from PT and other sources that feels right at the time. Climb stairs (Body-weight): Climb 1 flight of stairs to start. Increase by a flight as feels appropriate --> be doing 4 flights a day by the end of the challenge. Alternate with a 5 minute walk as necessary if my knee is acting up. Level up life: Be habitually getting into bed by 10 pm by the end of the challenge. It's kind of free-form, but I'm trying not to over-think this. (I've planned some of the previous challenges like down to the second - "do x amount of this exercise/stretch on this day" - and when I blow the goal because of my knee or some other random problem, I just stop.) Weight: 181 Waist: 39,5 Hips: 45.5 Bust: 44 L thigh: 19.5 R thigh: 20 Neck:14.75

Originally I wasn't going to post a challenge thread. But I will just miss y'all too much. I will be working some of the time while I am overseas (three weeks out with two weeks of vacation, so I cut a deal with the devil...) So if I'm already working, I have to check in. :-) Bae and I are going on an ADVENTURE most of this challenge. We'll be hitting Copenhagen, Berlin, Cinque Terre, Florence, and Rome. We have been together for 6 years and never taken a vacation (aside from traveling to visit family and some weekend camping trips.) This was supposed to be our honeymoon, but that's a whole crazy story I won't bore you with. The point is we are happy and doing what we want to do. I want to accomplish four things while away: Consciously make the choice to be present. Travel is stressful for me, but once I'm there I'm good. I don't need to get overwhelmed. Just make space and take a few breaths. Write every damn day. This will be a great opportunity for me to reflect and get some clarity. I bought a new bujo and a little field notes book with the Chicago flag motif on the front. No excuses. Only check email and work during the time I have agreed on w/ my job (Mondays and Tuesdays ONLY) Do bodyweight exercises 3x/week. If I can find a gym to train w/ barbells, cool. But I'm not going to count on it.

So like most other members, my 2016 was not the best but it was definitely not the worst. I started the year at my highest weight and ended up losing 26lbs. I did 2 5ks, stopped drinking soda (8/30/16) and completed a Whole30. All of those things were awesome but this year I want to do better. Each week I will do the following with a bonus task (see below for week bonuses). Workout - Salvage 3 gadgets per workout Weight myself on Sundays - Loot 1 Dinglehopper for each weigh in 10 min Yoga - Discover 2 gizmos every 10 mins 1 Mobility exercise a day - Recover 1 whosits per mobility exercise Read for 5 hours - Acquire 5 thingamabobs every week Bullet Journal tracking - Find 1 whatsits per day of tracking Bullet Journal page designs - Obtain 2 whatsits per page design Points : 100 antiques/artifacts = passing Bonus Tasks Per week (8 artifacts available to collect) Week 1 : Life isn't perfect but that doesn't mean you stop living. (Pocket Watch + Grandfather Clock) Tasks : Create a workout routine & cleaning schedule I can stick with. It doesn't have to be perfect but it needs to be done. Week 2 : Don't let anyone take your voice away! (A birdcage + A Sword) Tasks : Do the Women's March in Seattle (1/21) & Knit pussyhat for the March. Find other opportunities to be heard. Week 3 : Have impossible dreams and work towards a goal. (Books + Helm) Tasks : Figure out what my fitness end game is. Find my purpose. Week 4 : Facing your fears is good and so is expanding your comfort zone (Jack in the box + Mirror) Tasks : Create my costume for the Disney Princess 5k and post finished product pictures to Instagram

After completing her studies, it was time for Neila to adventure out on her own, with just her partner for guidance and companionship. Miles away from the only home she has ever known, she has become lonely, and bored, without enough activity to occupy her days. She overeats to fill the time, but soon her meager wardrobe will no longer fit, and she cannot afford replacements. With her boredom and loneliness she has come to find that the only solution is to dedicate her free time to bettering herself. The world is a dangerous place, and she cannot rely solely on her partner for protection. These four weeks are the beginning of her journey towards bettering herself. She has five goals to complete for the duration of the challenge: 1) She will not drink Liquid Calories; she has a weakness for ale, and it makes her vulnerable. This is counterproductive to her goals. 2) She will consume a high-protein breakfast 5 days a week; reprogramming her body to process protein, kick-start the morning, and work towards getting stronger. 3) She will not consume snacks after the day's work is completed; it is expensive, and unproductive caloric intake. Eating a healthy supper will be more productive. 4) She will eat a homemade dinner 6 times a week; the local tavern, while tasty, is both expensive and unhealthy. Eating at home, while time-consuming, will help her towards her goal of losing weight. 5) She will complete 3 workouts a week; On Mondays she will go to Rogue Fitness to complete a workout with Sweaty John, her trainer, then Wednesday and Friday she will complete the NFA Bodyweight Workout 2A (Wednesdays) and 2B (Fridays) with the appropriate NF Handstands exercises added each day. Neila has an extended journey ahead of her. This is just the beginning.

Hello! This is my first post. I don't play video games but I love Doctor Who and Harry Potter. That should be enough nerdiness. Watching American Ninja Warrior has motivated me to start strength training. As of... today. I've gotten in better shape in the past, but never had a driving force behind it. I figure having a Big Ass Goal to get on the show will keep me going for longer. People have made bigger changes and made it happen. I CAN DO IT! Baseline I've done the NF Beginner's Bodyweight Workout a couple times, with the advanced stretching after. The push-ups are done against my kitchen counter, as I can't do them flat yet. I could use a better, heavier weight for the rows. Right now I'm using a Le Creuset Dutch oven. Not just useful for sauteing onions! I set a goal a couple months ago to walk at least 5 miles every day, or bike an hour and a half. On average, I've been hitting that goal. It took over two years of working up to it, but I'm fine riding or walking for a couple of hours straight. (As long as a bus doesn't crush me... Riding a bike in NYC is hairy.) Not sure of my weight. I was last on a scale in 2015, and I was at 138. My tops have gotten a little tighter since then, so low 140's? Three or four years ago I was in the 160's. I'm 5'6", so I'm squarely in the "acceptable but not impressive" range. I eat... better than I used to. (Not hard.) No soda, alcohol, or coffee. Very few restaurant meals. Lots of bean chili, carrots, apples, chicken, peanut butter, sweet potatoes, and brown rice, but also pasta and random dessert scavenged around my office. Even when the food is healthy and filling, I eat more than I need and when I'm not hungry. I may be the only person who can gorge on peanut butter and not feel full enough to stop. Maybe that's my superpower? Zero upper body strength, no agility, no speed, and a tiny remnant of flexibility from my childhood gymnastics classes. If I ever want to get on ANW, all of this will need to change. Challenge Once the next 4-week challenge starts, mine will be: Diet No crappy hot chocolate from work - drink water instead (currently drink 1-2x/week) Only one granola bar or Fig Newtons thingie a week (currently 4-5x/week) Fitness Complete the NF bodyweight workout at least 2x a week (stretch goal 3x/week) Level Up Your Life Floss at least 15 seconds each day (currently around 60%) I've already walked 5 miles today and done the bodyweight workout, but I like to beat my 5-mile goal. I'm off to walk another 2-3 miles. Glad to be here, and I hope the built-in support system of the forum will help keep me focused.

This month will be epic!! I am at last! back in town and getting my routine down, so it's the best time to start a new challenge! Since it's my first challenge in a while, I'll try to make it a bit easier so I can get a good start and increase difficulty! The AWESOME mini will also help motivating me with side goals! GOALS! Nutrition: Food will be my main focus for this challenge, as I regain control of my refrigerator now I'm back home. I will go back to the rule of 3 fruits or veggies per day. This rule helped me a lot, especially with snack swapping. I figure it's a good first step Side goal in the mini: cooking more. As I was on biz trips a lot I was eating out everyday and I got used to not cooking... So I'll get back to making vegetables part of life, which, in turn, helps with my challenge goal --> SYNERGY!! Exercise: MORE MORE MORE will be the goal of this challenge, and I'll start slow. The goal is to be able to do 2 full bodyweight workouts by the end of the challenge by starting to use again muscles that grew tired while unused. I will mix some cardio and some basic exercises to gain back strength and grow better. I used to be able to do 3 full BBWW in a row, so this is doable! The mini will help with providing motivation to train in endurance (biking) and to push strength. AWESOME!! Stress reduction: As I want to TREMENDOUSLY reduce my amount of stress, I am tacking this as a NF goal to get more motivation! For this challenge, goal will be to identify the things that give me stress and establish a list of potential solutions or responses to them. I started writing up an improvement plan, and hopefully it helps. Grading will be done simply: - 1 point per day where I ate 3 fruits, no comp. 1 additional point if I cook! - 1 point per day when I workout, and 1 additional point if I work on a specific exercise in the BBWW (e.g., lunges) in addition to my regular workout. I need to work on improving at that exercise, not just let myself live at an easier level. +10 points if I do 1 BBWW and +20 if I do 2! - 11 point per week where I work on writing and then implementing my improvement plan as long as I do so more than 5 hours over the week. I do this one weekly, since there may be days where I cannot work on this. Max points: 4*(7+7+5+11)+10+20=150 If I reach more than 112, then I will have done a good effort ($20 in video games) if I reach more than 135, I will have done well ($50 in video games) If I reach more than 150, I will have done awesome!! ($100 in video games) If I succeed in doing 2 BBWW but do not reach my minimum of 70 points, then I will only get $5 in video games and a "same player plays again". Let's go!

Well, I'm trying another challenge. This time my goals are even teensier. This time, I shall kick challenge booty. I'm not setting any weight goals, as I've stopped focusing on my weight. If I can look back on my day and know that I ate healthy food, not too much of it, and exercised at least one hour, I'm ignoring what the scale says! Food/Fitness Be active for at least one hour per day, 6 days per week Complete 4 weeks of Bodyweight workout without missing any workouts Avoid caffeine after 4 PM Level Up My Life Meditate for at least 10 minutes per day, 6 days per week (more if I can) Good luck everyone!

Briniel finds her focus Last challenge, I learned a lot of new things. I found out what works and what doesn't, learned a lot about procrastination, about bullet journaling, about what makes it difficult for me to stick to my goals and what makes it easy. This challenge I want to build on what I've learned and focus on what works for me. I contemplated adding lots of new stuff (new workout routine, new diet plan, new rangerbrain), but I think it would be nice to have a challenge where I just do what I've been doing so far, strengthen the habits I've made and kinda build the foundation from where to try new things. So, I will continue what I've been doing because it is working and because I believe it's the right path. I have set up another habit tracker for next month which includes all my goals. Last challenge I felt like my goals were all over the place. Some in my habit tracker, some on my challenge spread in my bujo, some only here on NF, some only in my head... so this time I will focus them all on one page so I can see at a glance what I need to be doing. I'll walk you through it: The top part is my housekeeping tracker. At the end of the month there will be checkmarks (me) or x-es (boyfriend) between all of the dotted lines. I added things that I want to do once a month at the bottom. The bottom part is my habit tracker. I divided it to include both daily tasks and things that I want to do 1-5 times a week. do my miracle morning (details can be found here) do a darebee gravity HIIT workout (I will probably adjust these in the end because they get a little rep-heavy towards the end, which I really didn't like with the last of their programs that I did, changed this to HIIT, because gravity was a little rep heavy from the beinning , star: did more than one workout) do the daily dare (star: with extra credit) drink more than 3l (raised from 2,5l last challenge) avoid added sugar and white flour (avoid, not cut out, so there's some wiggle room here; half-filled: had a little snack/treat but no complete outside the rules meal) eat veggies with two meals (half-filled: veggies with one meal, star: veggies with all meals) be outside for the sake of being outside (half-filled: went oustide only because I had to bike somewhere or had errands on this part of the river) play with the cats 2x (half-filled: played once or when they weren't really in the mood, star: had a clicker training session) write down my spendings in an excel spreadsheet Then there are things I'd like to do regularly, but not daily do one hour of job hunt work (this could include finding open positions, writing applications or getting info on further education, 5x/week) read for work as part of TMM (5x/week) volunteer at the local donation center, by collecting garbage at the river or by other means I can think of (at least 1x/week) call my parents, grandma and/or brother (at least 1x/week) meet friends in person (at least 1x/week) and host a social event at my place (2x/challenge) declutter some area of my flat (I've got a long list of things that need to get done and want to cross of 6 things by the end of the challenge) practice singing (additionally to any lessons or rehearsals, 2x/week) floss teeth (every other day) do some sort of physical activity for at least 30 minutes (workout, running, biking, inline skating, badminton, swimming... could be anything, 4x/week) So this is a lot of stuff, but it's all stuff that I've been successfully doing last challenge. This time around, I will focus on moving forward - my priority is the job hunt. I've been making more and more progress here every challenge, but it's time to give this my all. I know there's a lot more that I can do and I will go and do it. I will work on this as much as I can. I don't know whether I'll have a job by the end of this, but I know I will have done all I can. on what's been proved to work - I will use my habit tracker daily. I will figure out something for the pomodoro timer which was a great tool last challenge to tame the monkey. I will also remember to enjoy my time off, whether I've already done everything for that day or not. on being in the moment - what bothered me most last challenge were half-assed bricks - when I wasn't really productive, but not really relaxing either. So there won't be any more of those. I will either focus on work or focus on play, but I won't do any multi-tasking. This includes eating in front of screens or using NF/fb at work. When I work, I'll work. When I sit, I'll sit. When I relax, I'll relax. There was a quote about this somewhere, but I can't find it right now. When something goes wrong... when I find myself losing focus, when my thoughts wander, when I loose ground... I will use buddhify to refocus. It has lots of different meditations for all kinds of situations. I will sit down for a few minutes, take a little time off to remember why I'm doing this and what my focus is and continue being awesome

Going through a few of my past challenges, I've noticed that I tried to hard to do multiple tasks and when I got really stressed, i caved into laziness and just gave up. For this challenge, I decided to keep it simple and just upgrade some of the exercises I'm already doing, for example instead of running from my house to the end of the street (about .5 miles), I'm gonna run to the beach (about 2 miles). I'm still doing my normal routine, but with an extra kick. So here is what my challenge is as follows: Main Quest To be awesome at Parkour Diet Quest Eat at least one salad a day Fitness Run two miles every other day Bodyweight workout every other day LUL At least two hours of studying Clean out one part of room Get some drawing done. Grading haven't yet figured this out, but I'll probably update this later. Luckily, I got some friends to help me with accountability this challenge, so I'm excited to see how this goes I'll probably update on my daily battle log, and put a weekly summary on here to keep track. Hopefully, I'll actually finish this time.

Now that my life is almost at a turning point (brace yourselves... final exams are coming), it's time to prepare for the next part of my bigger journey somewhere else. And which place would be better to do so than the famous city of Free Haven, probably the largest settlement in Enroth with a huge variety of both weapon and armor shops, various other places of interest and, of course, magic guilds for almost every kind of magic. Therefore, the three parts of my recent challenge will each relate (at least in some way) to one of the three schools of self magic. Since these schools also teach their skills to everyone who is able and willed to learn them, they also mark the fact that most of all this comes from an external source (Darebee)and isn't even remotely created or modified by me. It's new territory, so the time for change will come... soon enough, but defintely not yet. Part1 - Body... the magic of healing As the name of this kind of magic indicates, it is all about healing, raising and maintaining your physical attributes and resistances. Aside from keeping my yoga routine (the surya namaskara is one of the best ways to wake up and get alert in every sense), I will be doing 2 Darebee programmes (since they don't interfere but instead should work well together)... more precisely, the ones called "Total Abs" and the "30 Days of HIIT". They also seem to be helpful for a long-time goal I wanted to have reached at the beginning of April 2016 which, sadly, didn't happen as planned. Part 2 - Mind... the magic of knowledge Since the finals (at least the written ones) are dated for the next 2 weeks, my first specialisation/goal is to get through them with acceptable results, giving my best for every single question in every single subject. Being prepared also counts as does preparing for the later oral exam and meditating to focus on what I know, need to know or hoepfully will know sooner or later. Depending on what day/week it is, there will be more specific examples of what I do or want to do for this. Part 3 - Spirit... the magic of life One of the main sources of life and survival is the food we eat. For the following ~4 weeks, my diet is based on the Darebee Ab Diet as far as possible. Our budget is a bit tight so we'll have to stick with what we have for at least until wednesday afternoon... though I will still try to make something mentioned by the cheat sheet out of what we have. After that, my rule of following said diet will be far more strict (except for birthdays/family celebrations of any kind... for obvious reasons) Lifetime Goal - Determining the next steps on my path While there will be a few more weeks of classes after the finals are done (for weird reasons no one understands), it would still be helpful to prepare for what is coming after that. Being almost 100% certain about studying at the Uni, the things that need to be determined are the subject (either History, Chemistry or Biology as major), the place and what those places want. Even though this seems to be most important, there are enough suitable emergency subjects that don't have any special requirements so, as far as my mates who are already studying or did so before have told, in case this gets screwed up completely, I can register for one of those. As always... g'luck everyone

I'm kinda making up this challenge as I go so some goals might get edited later! Like a lot of people here, my goals every challenge stay very much the same, as my main quest is the same each month - get myself ready for all the OCR's and Running races I have planned. The last few challenges have been exactly the same, running, lifting/climbing and mobility work and that's been great (well, except for the running) but it's starting to feel a bit dull having goals for things that I will do anyway. The point of these challenges (in my opinion) should be to help work on the things you are struggling with, so with that in mind, my goals this time will be to work on my weaknesses. Weakness 1 Keeping to a running schedule. I love to go out for a run, but with the cold weather recently, I've been finding excuses not to go out and then I have to make up the run later in the week or it gets skipped completely Solution: Set a proper running schedule and stick to it. In the last 2 weeks of this challenge, I'll be starting my Half Marathon training plan which calls for 3 runs a week. So the first 2 weeks will be planning 3 runs a week on set days and sticking to those days. My running days are going to be Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. I'm allowing myself to switch days only if something big comes up and I absolutely can't run that day, or if I get sick or injured! Weakness 2 Lifting my own body-weight When it comes to OCR's being able to lift your own body-weight is a huge advantage on most obstacles. I tend to neglect body-weight work in favor of lifting weights instead. I want to eventually be able to do cool things like pull ups, one handed push ups and eventually muscle ups! I want to get better at climbing too so being able to comfortably lift my own body-weight is going to be a big help. Solution: Work on the following exercises each week - Push Ups - Dips - Body-weight rows - Chin-ups(?) I'll be doing each exercise at least once each week. I've put a question mark next to chin ups as I'm only able to do one chin up from standing, not from a deadhang at the moment. So I may do some GtG work here to help me get to finally do a proper chin up and then hopefully, more than one! The last time I did GtG work on chin ups I started getting pain in my elbow so this will depend on how my elbow feels. Weakness 3 Time management Quite simply, there aren't enough hours in my day to fit in everything I want to do with the things I have to do. Solution: Make more hours in the day! Wake up earlier to workout or run at lunchtime I used to get up and do my workouts in the morning, but then I got lazy. I'm going to get up early and get my workouts done first thing. It also means I can double up on workouts (run in the morning and lift in the evening) if needs be. Once I start my Half Marathon training plan, I may utilize the park near my work to run at lunchtime - it has some big hills that are great for hill work! Side Goal: Take better care of my skin The cold weather, climbing and lifting has done a number on my skin over the last few months, mostly on my hands. I'm a completely rubbish girl and tend to "forget" to moisturize and don't take care of the callouses that have formed on my hands. The goal is just to take care of my skin better, use body scrub and moisturizer regularly and pumice any callouses that form and moisturize my hands daily.

I spent my previous challenge with the Rangers, and the one prior to that with the Scouts. What can I say/ I like to spread the love so all you lovely people have me bugging you for the next 4 weeks I joined the NF Academy last month and it's been pretty awesome so far - my first in-progress measurements and comparison pics later today. I'm 46, husband to my gorgeous wife and father of 6 year old twin girls. My main life quest for the time being is to run my first marathon, and is a possibility for this autumn. All my other challenges are going to be designed to help me achieve that life quest. Challenge 1 - Three strength workouts per week. I'm currently on the NF Academy bodyweight brigade level 2. Challenge 2 - Stretch! I really don't know why I find this so tricky to do, I know how important it is and I also know how stiff & inflexible I am. sheesh! Challenge 3 - Run at least twice per week. I currently manage about 5-6 miles per week, aiming increase to 10 miles per week by the end of the challenge. Edited to general strength workout rather than just bodyweight.

[whitewineandcathair] " Recycling the theme from my abandoned challenge, because I got a little distracted that time around. OK. A lot distracted. To make a needlessly long story short, I've been dealing with some hormonal issues for quite a while now, and the most recent birth control pill I was put on gave me a pretty serious case of the Don't Wannas. I was dealing with depression symptoms, lack of motivation, and brain fog. All of which make these challenges, uh, extra challenging. I'm on a new pill now, and have no idea how well this will work out, but here we go... ...builds a better core I'll be taking a little break from the lengthy yoga sessions this time and doing a mixture of Pilates, bodyweight exercises, and a little yoga that mainly focuses on core strength. I'll be doing a 30 minute workout 3x per week. All workouts will be tracked in my battle log. A = 11 -12 workouts B = 9 - 10 workouts C = 7 - 8 workouts ...introduces rainbow-hued biofuel I think I do pretty well on my intake of fruits and veggies, but just like my protein challenges before, I thought it would be a good idea to track my eating habits and get a feel for the serving sizes and variety I eat on a daily basis. For this challenge, I will aim to eat five servings a day of fruits and vegetables, and "eat the rainbow." I'll be tracking the color variety in my notebook/journal and posting the results here once a week. (I'd originally planned to try one new fruit or vegetable per week of the challenge, but walking around the produce section... I couldn't find four I'd never had. Go me?) A = 126 - 140 servings of fruits and veggies B = 112 - 125 servings of fruits and veggies C = 98 - 111 servings of fruits and veggies ...installs toxin filtration system [whitewineandcathair] does Drynuary. Between the stomach issues, the depression issues, the financial issues, and the brain fog, this is just a good idea. I will not drink for the month of January. (Bonus: I'll still get my wine club shipment and will have a full wine rack by the time I'm "allowed" to drink it.) Pass = 0 drinks in January Fail = >0 drinks in January ...recalibrates internal clock I've been having more than a little trouble getting up, finding time to do my morning meditation, AND making it to work on time. I don't actually have any trouble wanting to go back to bed once I'm up, it's just the actual act of getting out of bed when the alarm first goes off. This might actually be my hardest challenge. I've been using an app that's supposed to wake me up during the lightest part of my sleep cycle, and that's only been helping a little. The goal for this challenge is to get up, meditate, and get to work on time. A = 18 - 20 successful mornings B = 15 - 17 successful mornings C = 12 - 14 successful mornings grading: To pass and level up, I must get a C or better in each challenge. (And pass Drynuary.) reward: Funko Pop! Joy and Sadness (Must pass with all A's and B's.) progress: week one week two mid-challenge summary week three week four final report

Oh hey, it's been exactly 1 year since I tried a challenge (and failed to complete that challenge). But, four weeks seems far more manageable, and fits beautifully into my schedule, so let's give this another go. 2015 was a hectic year - I started grad school, which has been amazing. This meant I had to leave my Muay Thai gym I was training at due to both money and time reasons (I'm still in the same city, but my school schedule conflicted with the classes there). Fortunately I found people in my grad program who used to train BJJ and Muay Thai, and so was able to get in a few workout sessions with them last semester. I also now have access to the school gym for weightlifting. Neither better nor worse then, just different. However, January is a term break so my training group isn't around, and there's no classes so I'm not going to campus very often. I risk spending this break just eating leftover Christmas cookies and watching Netflix; trying to use this challenge to do a little bit more than just that! Overarching Goal: Use January to build basic habits to carry me through the rest of the year, and keep in decent enough shape to train with my ad hoc martial arts group in the spring semester. GOALS 1. Daily Stretching. Do each of these three stretches for at least five breaths, at least once per day: Hamstring stretch (forward fold)Hip flexor stretch (kneeling hip flexor stretch)Calf stretch (lunge against wall)This is one I'd like to build on in future challenges, and by the end of the year be stretching more of me, 3x/day. But, starting small and manageable. Total possible: 26 Grading will be a straight percentage of days achieved it. 2. Bodyweight Exercises. 3x/week on M/W/F. Choosing those specific days since those are the days I'll be able to work out next semester, so I want to get into the habit of exercising those days now to make it easier to keep going once classes start again. Just doing bodyweight squats, knee pushups, and planks to keep it simple and something I can do at home if I don't go to the campus gym. Squats: ladder sets from 15 down to 5 (15 reps, 14 reps, 13 reps, etc - aiming to increase starting reps by 1 each week so by end of challenge doing 19-18-17 down to 9)Knee Pushups: ladder sets from 10 down to 1 (goal by end is to be doing full pushups for 5 reps through 1 rep)Planks: ladder sets from 60 seconds to 10 secondsTotal possible: 12 Grading: 80% will be number of workouts accomplished, period. 20% will be how many were on the correct days of the week (i.e. if I do 10 workouts, but only 8 were on MWF as planned, I'll give myself an 8/10 in that section of the grade). Upping squat reps and knee pushups to real pushups is a nice to have, but that's more to keep the exercises interesting and won't count for grading. 3. Food Logging. Just collecting data and trying to be more mindful of what I'm eating to start the year. I'm not planning on making major diet changes right now, but want to get a baseline of what I'm eating now. Total possible: 26 Grading is a straight percentage of days achieved it. 4. Life Goal - Complete EdX Mandarin Course. I'm going to China over spring break (!!) The only New Year's resolution I made for myself was a) visit 3 countries this year, and have a conversation in the local language everywhere I go (can be very brief and very basic, but should be an actual exchange with a native speaker). So to that end, I want to finish all six lessons of this course (https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:MandarinX+MX101x+3T2015/info) in this challenge to get the basics down. Total possible: 6 lessons Grading is a straight percentage of how many lessons I complete within the challenge. Let's see how this goes!

Maintenance is the hardest part. I've got 10lbs to re-lose; I want to increase my muscle mass and decrease my body fat percentage. Last challenge I struggled with doing both a workout plus stretching, so this challenge I really want to make sure I get them both done. I'm switching my "self care" goal with a specific sleep goal, to focus on getting more sleep so that I can be healthier. Things: Activity (bodyweight workout + sledgehammer, cycling, swimming, etc) (5x per week) Stretching (5x per week) No S diet (no snacks 5x per week) Sleep by midnight (5x per week)Bonus quest: pick up my ukulele and start practising again (1x per week?) Again I will keep my daily hits and misses to my battle log, and use this thread for general "how am I doing/feeling" updates, as well as cool things and thoughts. Fair warning: I am queer, agender, poly, and kinky. I will warn you if any content or links I share is NSFW, and put questionable stuff behind a cut.

HELLO. I'm Cody. Since I'm a first-time Druid, allow me to re-introduce myself. I started yoga about two years ago to offset the strain of my job as a baker. Yoga definitely soothes my sore muscles, but I'd hit a bit of a wall, as far as strength and stamina. I've since added Pilates and bodyweight exercises, and am starting to feel a lot better. My first challenge was designed to increase my strength and stamina by increasing my workout lengths, and by tracking my food to make sure I'm getting enough fuel. Currently, my challenge is similar, but I will not be pushing forward as much as I had expected, and will instead be working on maintaining the habits I had started to develop last time. While I passed my first challenge, I had enough of a lifestyle shakeup during those six weeks that I think now is a better time to focus on building a routine, rather than push myself to my limits. And so... Strength of the Bull, Grace of the Cat [+ 2 STR, + 2 DEX] Unlike my previous challenge, I will not be pushing myself for longer workouts this time around. I am still aiming for three sessions per week, but am giving myself a more lenient "45ish minutes" goal. My workouts consist mostly of yoga, with some Pilates and bodyweight strength training. Head over to my Battle Log for full recaps of my workouts. A = 16 - 18 sessions B = 14 - 15 sessions C = 12 - 13 sessions Feast of the Gods [+2 CON, + 2 STA] While tracking my food intake as well as my exercise, I had recently discovered that I am not eating enough to properly fuel my body through my physically-demanding job, my walk to/from work, and my workouts. I was especially lacking in protein. My goal is to pay closer attention to what I eat and make sure I'm giving my body what it needs on a daily basis. I'll be carrying over my goal from last time, which was 70g of protein per day. I'd like to push the number closer to 100g, but it was incredibly difficult last time around, so I am grading on the bare-minimum for now. My non-graded goal is to also get around 2,600 calories per day. A = 38 - 42 days B = 33 - 37 days C = 28 - 32 days Call of the Pack [+ 3 CHA] I have recently found myself living alone, and don't have many (any) friends outside of the internet. Normally, I don't mind having work friends, internet friends, and my partner... but, remove the last one and, well... My goal is to get out and do something among the people at least once per week. I have recently started to volunteer at the local food bank's community kitchen, and hope to continue each week. I would also like to try to get to a yoga class a few times during this 6WC, and find a book club to join. A = 6 or more outings B = 4 or 5 outings C = 2 or 3 outings Breaking the Spell [+ 2 CON, + 2 WIS] While I would like to keep my original goal of meeting or exceeding my Goodreads challenge during this 6WC, I have realized time and time again that the biggest issue I have with not doing the things I want to do (reading, baking, crafting) is that I tend to scroll the internet for ages doing absolutely nothing. I would like to put a stop to that. (Plus, I'm re-reading Harry Potter right now and "challenging" myself to finish 3 - 6 seems a little indulgent.) I've installed an internet tracker, and I will be limiting myself to one hour of non-productive internet time per day. Non-productive internet time includes, but is not limited to; Tumblr, IMDB, Cracked, Facebook, link bait, endlessly checking in on and refreshing NerdFitness, Googling random thoughts I have while reading or cooking, that thing where I read reviews of books and movies to see if anyone agrees with me, looking up fanfiction just to see if a genre exists (it does,) planning vacations I do not intend to take within the next year, reading comments on news articles just to find someone who is wrong, internet stalking the guy who works at the pet food store before remembering that LinkedIn logs visitors, determining how much it would cost to replace the Lego Pirates sets from my childhood, and consulting Dr. Google about every sensation in my body. A = 38 - 42 days B = 33 - 37 days C = 28 - 32 days Grading: In order to "pass" this level, I need to get a C or higher on each of my goals. Reward: I Love Me mug. Because I Love Me. (Must pass with A's and B's.) Progress: Week One Week Two Week Three Mid-Challenge Week Four Week Five Week Six FINAL REPORT

Aloha and welcome to my first challenge within the assassins guild! I’m continuing the theme from my last challenge, because I love to swim and I love mermaids.In my last challenge I focused on swimming more, slimming down, and "transitioned" from human to mermaid. For this challenge, I want to have fun with my workouts, get really pumped to go and hit the gym or pool. I want to see an improvement in my abilities not just physical appearance. I also want to improve myself intellectually and gain skills that’ll benefit my hobbies and career (cosplay and modeling). So this challenge is something I’m really looking forward to start and something I’m excited to finish. Changes from the last challenge: Handwritten Battle Log. I can better track my meals, workouts, and progress if I write it down physically.Multiple choices. I now have many choices for exercise instead of one to keep myself motivated.Point system. For my life quests I’ve added a point system to make it easier to track and grade. Main Quest: How to Mermaid Transitioning from human to mermaid means I got some learning to do. In six weeks I want to be able to swim like a mermaid. I want to be able to expand my air capacity and be able to perform proper dolphin kicks (how professional mermaids use their tails) by the end of this challenge. First Lesson: Adjust to new Fins [sTR +3, STA +2] I need to learn how to use my new body parts so I don’t drown. Last challenge I focused on swimming more, not really anything to work on. This challenge I plan on being able to execute daily and weekly drills to learn proper dolphin kick form. I also plan on working on pull-ups, abdominal exercises, and yoga. To complete this quest I need to do something (Dolphin kick drills, yoga, bodyweight exercises, dancing, etc.) 4 days out of the week. Mon-Wed-Fri-Sun is the schedule I'm shooting for. Second Lesson: Breath Water [sTA +1] Mermaids can can gain oxygen from either air or water. I plan on diving again with my husband so improving my breathing will be great. I will do breathing exercises at least once a day, preferably twice a day. This is to improve my air control and air capacity. Third Lesson: Aquatic Cuisine [CON +3] Living in the ocean and swimming all day requires a lot of energy and nutrients. Every morning during breakfast I will take my biotin, multi-vitamins, and fish oil. This is mainly to get me in the habit of taking my supplements more often than I already do. I want to look and feel healthy, and learning to take my supplements along with good food should do the trick. Fourth Lesson: War Paint [CHA +3] Mermaids while sometimes nice can also be deadly, deceiving sailors to their doom with their beauty and sweet songs. As a model I need to take care of my skin and have good makeup knowledge. I will exfoliate twice a week (up to 2 shells), wear a face/hair mask once a week (up to two shells), and I will practice my makeup technique and post one picture a week along with my weekly progress photos (1 Shell). To be honest, while I love modeling and cosplaying natural make-up and skin care routine are real chores for me and quite boring, so making it a habit and getting practice seems like the best way to make progress. Final Lesson: Learn another language [WIS +3] Mermaids speak differently than humans, hence I need to learn the language. My lesson plan: 1 Japanese Lesson/ week [7 points]10 vocab words/ day [up to 14 points]Review at least once a day [up to 14 points]For a total of 35 points a week. I love learning, especially languages, but I’m not a good self-study type person, so I’m hoping adding it as one of my quests will encourage me to work harder on my studies. Motivation: