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Hello again! This is my second challenge, and I'm eager to continue leveling up as a person and heading towards that goal of a healthier self. This time, I'm focusing on core strengthening techniques. I've recently fallen in love with Pilates and yoga but I find myself wobbling during some of the positions. It seems my workout buddy doesn't have the same problem, and I wasn't sure why I was having this issue. I'm hoping that strengthening my core, improving my posture, and my sense of balance will help. Main Quest Strengthen my core To complete the April Abs Blogilates calendar http://www.blogilates.com/blog/2014/03/31/30-day-aprilabs-calendar/ That means completing every day on the check list, even if I have to go back and do the days I missed. The videos add up to about one hour, or 55 minutes a day and work all different parts of the body through Pilates. ✓ Warm up before every workout. I pulled a muscle last challenge because I didn't warm up properly before my workouts. My goal is to do a warm up video between 5-10 minutes before each workout. Learn basic core strengthening moves and practice them daily. This is the first video I'm going to try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSxqzpqUFK4 Continue to practice Pilates with the Blogilates videos/calendar. 3 reps of 25 second planks 4x a week. Side Quests Meditate 10 minutes daily with my mediation CD. I have so much stress in my life and I'm so busy, sometimes I forget. But I feel so energized and balanced after practicing Chakra healing. Drink tea once a day. I'm really bad at drinking the recommended amount of water per day. I used to only drink one bottle, or 16 fl oz a day. Now I'm up to about two, or 32 fl oz a day. I know it's still not enough so I'm hoping to get more fluid intake through fruits and tea. Try to score a job by sending out my resume everywhere. I have student loans to pay, and I'm not making enough money through Ebay and writing as a text-broker/freelancer. At least I'm scoring interviews, but so far I haven't landed an offer. Lose five pounds. I've been gaining muscle lately, so my weight hasn't dropped in about a month even with healthy eating, cutting carbs, sugars, and processed foods, and daily exercise. I know muscle weighs more than fat, but I also know that I'm nowhere near my healthy weight of 120-145 (according to a BMI calculator) or 18.5 and 25% body fat percentage. ✓ So what's my motivation? Honestly, aside from the long-term goal of being a healthier person and being able to complete a workout without being out of breath and nauseous, my short-term reason for getting healthy is cosplay. There is a convention in May, and besides there being a ton of walking involved, I want to be able to look confident and happy in my pictures.