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Last challenge was my first since last fall, and was partly to help me get over the winter blues. This challenge I’m building on that and adding in music. Goals Fitness- Walk or take my bike to work every rain-free day. It's about a mile and a half, or 5-10 if I have extra time and take a long route for the fun of it. (+1 per day, +2 per longer ride) Run 3 or 4 C210k workouts a week. Running isn't my favorite, but it's convenient and I like being able to run. I’m on week 7 now. Also, I’m signed up for a half marathon in November. (+2 per 30 minutes) 10+ minutes of strength training every day, not including warmup. This will usually be half or all of Simple and Sinister kettlebell routine. Take the mountain bike onto trails at least twice a week. I'll also be looking for a group to ride with. (+2 per ride, +5 for finding a group) Cleaning- Last time, I gave myself the goal to set a timer for cleaning. It didn’t work very well, partly because I felt undirected. This time, I’m going to set myself an area and spend a minimum of 20 minutes a day until it’s acceptably clean. This is in addition to a required 10 or 15 minutes to maintain whatever I’ve already done. (+2 per area completed) List of areas: (To be taped to the front door.) Kitchen counters Kitchen cabinets Kitchen floor Living room shelves (by radiator) Living room shelves (by door) Living room furniture Living room floor Living room bike storage Living room workout area Bathroom cabinets Bathroom floor Bathroom shower/toilet/sink Hallway closet (high) Hallway closet (low) Bedroom shelves Bedroom floor Bedroom furniture Bedroom underbed Bedroom closet (high) Bedroom closet (low) Mending/alteration pile (30 pounds down = Badly fitting clothes!) Diet- Last challenge, I lost 1 pound. Could have been better, could have been worse. I'd like to lose 2 this challenge. Keep in the range of 1500-1700 calories a day, and track it in the LoseIt! app. (+1 per day) If I burn more than about 500 calories in exercise, eat back the extra. Starting weight: 141 (+2 per pound lost). Music- I’m signed up for a folk music camp in June, but I haven’t really played much since attending last year. As an extra challenge, I’m switching from my main instrument (fiddle) to flute (which was my main instrument 15 years ago) because my apartment’s walls are like paper and the flute is quieter. I’m less self-conscious about playing it, which means I actually practice it. Goals: Play at least 15 minutes a day. (+1 per day) Do 1-3 lessons from the Flute Basics class at the Online Academy of Irish Music per week. Number depends on difficulty. (+2 per lesson) Attend local Irish session. (+5 per session) Keeping track- I'll print out a calendar and note progress on it. (+1 per week) Bonus stuff- Bonus points for applying to jobs. +1 per application sent, +50 per job offer, +100 per good job offered and accepted. Budgeting. I’ve never had any trouble saving money, but I decided last week that as long as I’m in the habit of tracking my food, I may as well track my spending as well. +1 per week of tracking all spending in an app. This ties in with my cleaning goal because I’ve got a budget item for storage furniture so that I can actually keep my apartment looking nice. Sewing. It’s under cleaning as well, but I’ve got a big pile of clothes I’ve shrunk out of, but that I still like well enough that I don’t want to give them away. I need to start altering those so they fit.

I've been procrastinating and avoiding doing stuff, which is both the cause and the result of mild depression. I need to break that cycle, and nerdfitness has helped before. My main priority is to get back into a healthy routine where I'm taking care of myself. This means eating right, exercising regularly, and keeping my home clean and welcoming. All things I've been so-so at lately, especially keeping my apartment neat. Goals Fitness- One-off: Take my mountain bike into the shop, and make sure it's in good condition for trails. I've had this bike for years, but I just took a mountain bike course, and had so much fun that I want to get serious about it. While I'm there, I can buy fenders for my new road touring bike. (+5) Walk or take my bike to work every rainfree day. It's about a mile and a half, or 5-10 if I have extra time and take a long route for the fun of it. (+1 per day, +2 per longer ride) Run 3 or 4 C210k workouts a week. Running isn't my favorite, but it's convenient and I like being able to run. (+2 per 30 minutes) 20 minutes of Simple and Sinister (kettlebells) at least every other day. (+2 per workout) Take the mountain bike onto trails at least once a week. I'll also be looking for a group to ride with. (+3 per ride, +5 for finding a group) Cleaning- 1) Set a timer, and spend 20 minutes cleaning my apartment. Kitchen doesn't count, because I already do that consistently. This can be split into two 10 minute segments. (+1 per 10 minutes) 2) Donate or sell stuff I haven't used in the last year or two. (+2 per large bag donated) Diet- Track what I'm eating in the LoseIt! app. Everything, even the random nuts, m&ms, and pieces of fruit I keep sneaking. Starting weight: 142. (+1 per day, +2 per pound lost) Keeping track- I'll print out a calendar and note progress on it. (+1 per week) Other stuff- 1) Bonus points for writing a story I got halfway through a couple years ago. +4 per chapter completed. 2) Bonus points for applying to jobs. +1 per application sent, +50 per job offer, +100 per good job offered and accepted.

Okay. Third challenge. Last one I made too complicated. Still achieved some great things, but didn't knock it out of the park like i wanted to. It's time to prioritize, and keep it simple. 1) Run, Amy, RUN! Keep rocking the 10K trainer app. Goal 3x per week or 18 total. Going to allow 3 non-program following "easy" runs if I just can't find the time for the scheduled run that day. (It was a lot easier finding 30 minutes in my day than 1 hour+!!!) +3STA, +2DEX Complete first organized run. Scheduled for April 28th- 5 mile benefit run for a 12-year-old kid up the street who has also recently been my pheresis patient. +2CHA 2) Strength training For real this time. Twice a week. Either on run days, or on non-run days. Bodyweight workouts, circuit training with my husband, or yoga/group classes all count. +3STR +1CON 3) Be intentional Not sure how this is going to look in a measurable achievable goal... will edit this post later when I figure it out. It's just that lately, life has gotten way out of control. Kids have baseball starting up, track, school functions, etc etc etc. I have a job, a house to run, time commitments to singing on our church's Praise Team, nutritional talks, poster presentations coming up at medical conventions (2 in the next month) and so on and so on. I find that the busier I get, the more my focus gets fractionated, and the less effective I am at ALL of it. I want to be a patient pediatric nurse, a fulfilled and happy wife and a relaxed, healthy example for my kids. More on a plan for this later. **Edit: Okay... I've added a row for this to my Accountability Spreadsheet to track things I can do in pursuit of this goal. I've added a legend for things like date with hubby, date with kid, me time, journaling, family meals, quiet time/devos... etc. I want a minimum of 5 of these per week. I'm hoping that just by tracking these, it will increase my awareness of them. That alone should add focus to my life! +3WIS +1CHA Will edit later with points and a more concrete plan. For now that's the gist of it! ***Edited 4/21 to assign attribute points, and to make the title not match Kiwi's

Hey, Happy new year everyone, Here I am after a bad second challenge, and some "time off" from some of my healthy eating and workout habits, and ready to keep up where I left, because, as someone wrote "It's not what you eat between Christmas and New year, It's what you eat between New Year and Christmas!", so here goes my first draft for this challenge, feel free to comment or suggest. Health Goals 1. C210k, I started running with C25K, and it was great, I have realized lately that I have not added any more miles after that, and it's probably a lack of a good plan and specific short term goals, so I'll keep on with what worked before, so today I started with week 7 day 3 of C210K, and keep on going frome there, I'll look for a 10K race near or after the end of the challenge. (+4 STA) 2. Strength training. I have not done any EVER (Literally), but I begin to feel like I need some to balance the leg work of running/bike and the wife has "suggested" some upper body workout so I'll start with the Begginer Body weight Workout http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/ At least two times a week, and adjust as necessary, since I have never done anything like that. (+3 STR +1 CHA) 3. Paleo. After Whole30, and loosing 10kg, I feel like this is the best way for me, I am not good at percentages, of cheat meals, and some paleo stuff is just not available around here (such as grass-fed or wild-caught), but whatever I cook (or decide for myself what to eat out), will be 100% Paleo, I'll allow some room for sugar, or vegetable oil and small amounts of starch in condiments. (+4 CON) 4. Bike. I know, I have put this every single time, and fell short both times, but I really like It and I really like the idea of a triathlon, it's just so cool. The goal is at least one ride a week, at least 15k long (could be split into two). Life Goal 5. New House. Find a new house, that's both good for the family and good for the budget, it must be done as soon as possible, and move ASAP too. (+2 WIS +1CHA) Starting Stats STR 8.25 DEX 3 STA 10.5 CON 7 WIS 9 CHA 0 Weight: 97k