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2022 flew by for me. Unfortunately all the progress I made in the beginning of the year was undone and I’m my new heaviest weight I’ve ever been. The tail end left me tired, exhausted, and out of spoons. But it wasn’t all bad; it was a big year. A few notable mentions for 2022 were: - made some good soup, bread, jam and other canned goodies - got some big house tasks accomplished - got Daisy ❤️🐴 - learnt how to trim Daisy’s feet - made raised planters and grew tomatoes, raspberries and strawberries - car is finally paid off - tried fly fishing - went cross country jumping with Daisy - did fall camping - got Winnie ❤️🐾 - took my first dressage lesson - I finished 5 paintings I’m really proud of and have 2 in progress I had a bit of a mental decline near the end of this year and I still don’t feel 100%. I’m happy to say there have been some improvements. My feet are also still not great but they are a lot better and I’ve been doing small walks with Winnie as part of her training. 2023 Goals - Get work skills up to date - Lose 50lbs - Improve stamina, core, flexibility and balance - Plan wedding - Try agility with Winnie - Continue Winnie’s barn dog training - Continue on improving my look - Paint 1 painting for myself - Keep working on improving Daisy’s feet - Read the Hobbit (started) , Paper Girls, Walking Dead, Gwenpool - Continue making my house a home That’s all I can think of for now. Some of these aren’t very SMART goals. I will try to figure out what I want my 1 year of progress to look like and how to accomplish it. Challenge goals: - Daily Winnie training - Lose 5lbs - Drink 2L water - Practice 12:12 IF - Floss and brush every night - Take pill every night - Cook dinner 5 times a week Other goals: - decide about/arrange Rooks lump removal surgery - finish Dani painting - beat God of War - sign Winnie up for Agility - attend at least 2 social obedience walks with Winnie

It’s 74. 74 challenges. *insert Count* 74 Cycles of varying levels of having my shit together-ness. As it looks like I’m not quite finished languishing, I’ll be continuing on my slow roll toward better habits (yet again) and going the simple route. Goal The First Nutrition, Nutrition, Nutrition Keeping up with macro tracking has proven to be too much in the realm of effort for my brain again, so I’ll be edging toward that way again. Gotta hit those things side-on. Actual macros have not changed in ages, though off the top of my head I can’t remember what they are. Maybe I need to re-institute weekly weigh-ins for a little kick in the pants. We shall see. Aside from that, eat in a way that doesn’t kill my GI system, with a mind toward more veggies in my life, and not over eating. Or at least limiting the over eating, since I *still* can’t control myself around Indian. Goal The Second Movement in a way that feels good and does good. Zoom yoga 2 - 4 x a week as the schedule allows - as many classes as the schedule permits. The goal here is at least 1 functional-based class, 1 joy in movement class, and 1 handstand practice class. Keep the TRX straps up during the day - on yoga days do squat pull sets of 10 every time I pass the straps; on non-yoga days do at least 2 run-throughs of my full-body set per day + squat pull sets. Go for walks on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday in the sun; Sunday in a mall. Goal The Third Fulfillment. Do something to feed myself each day, be it something with digital art, graphic design, or one of my physical crafts. Something. Also: keep up with the social media stuff for DH’s Twitch thing & my blog. Also chucking redecorating and Spring cleaning the apartment in this slot. I’m tired of looking at our shit and tired of having the shit we have shoved in drawers that I literally never see. Since the move is off, I need to find a way to make this place annoy me less for the next 13 months. List Of Fulfillment Work with the dogs on some sort of training goal Digital art tutorial Digital art freestyle time while listening to a podcast Big projects on my Animal Crossing Island Creating images for WTFGaming Instagram & channel banners Taking pictures for Gastography Instagram Creating, writing, photographing & publishing recipes for Gastography Finding a way to include more food content on Gastography Instagram feed Creating & posting Pins for Gastography recipes Lucet cord making Tablet weaving Sashiko embroidery The quilt project I’m supposed to be doing but have put off because it’s a pain to find fabric Lace crocheting And that’s all I can think of for the moment; I’m sure there are more things. We also need to plan some sort of getaway - a staycation is fine; as long as it involves the dogs at the boarder + suitcases. When things open back up a bit here (i.e. we won’t have to stay in our room if we visit one of the resorts here that are still hella expensive even with zero amenities open), we shall make that happen. We’ve got at least a semi-portable setup for DH’s Twitch channel, so we can at least stream our Bad Game on a Saturday from the “road” if we don’t want to take a week off in this early stage with like 6 followers. We had intended on doing that for our anniversary in April, but (light) lockdown happened, amenities closed and some of the less bonkers places were reclassified again as COVID hotels. I mean ... we *could* have gone to the resort offering massive iftar catering all Ramadan for their private villa rental residents ... but we are not spending $1,000 a night for anything, let alone a villa in a resort with no amenities open. Hellz to the no. Even if we had the money. That’s ridiculous. Or, the brand new water park hotel - with the closed water park and nothing else open. That’s an option. Yeah. My ass is not getting into a pool in this weather, let alone going to a just-opened water park in the middle of a pandemic. That may or may not be dodgy. It’s a Hilton, but .... I don’t really trust it. We did hear something about more travel bubbles for vaccinated people flying Qatar Air opening up - Georgia is on the list, as are Turkey, the Maldives, and Greece. Out of those, Tbilisi Georgia is tops on our list for being affordable, pretty and having great food. Greece is definitely on the list as well, but they’ve got their own drama to deal with at the moment - I have no idea how they got on the travel bubble list, and from what I’ve been seeing (from @DarK_RaideR and others), I worry that that’s going to be a shitshow for them. Maybe Tbilisi is less of a mess? I don’t even know what we would want to do on vacation, at this point. Eat in a restaurant. Be in a Western city with modern Western morals (i.e beer, democracy(at least ish) & side boob). Drink a beer on a terrace. Look at some old shit; hike a bit ... Which, tbh, is what we generally do on vacation anyways. We’re not ones for doing crowded and popular things unless those things consist of walking around and not interacting with other people that aren’t chatty shopkeepers. Mostly just ruminating, there - it’ll be at the bare minimum a month before we can even contemplate leaving the country, and then it will be a 99% chance of DH flying out for work with a 15% chance of me being able to follow for Week 2 of his trip like we were doing. We will lightly contemplate, but actual firm planning is a recipe for those plans being immediately cancelled.

Hi all. Respawning under a battle log because this year the challenges have not been working for me. I want to be active on the forums but keeping my own thread up to date drained too much energy from my super-introvert self. Going to use this thread as a home-base to update on my quests and progress, but realistically most of my energy will be focused on checking in with my NF Coach in the app. My hope is that having a low-pressure home base in the battle logs will make participating in the forums less intimidating for me. That way I can hang out in the super inspiring threads of other Rebels What am I training towards? I want to participate in my first Tri-Sprint by this time next year (Swim: 750 m; Bike: 20 km; Run 5 km) Global pandemic back-up plan is a self-run/virtual duathlon (Sprint distance - 5km run, 20km bike, 2.5km run)

I crack myself up. Weeeeeeellll ... it’s another year. Which will hopefully be better than the last. Fingers frickin crossed there. Let’s turn to a fresh page, shall we? Let’s start this year off on the right foot with continuing to stay the course on most things, while peppering in a few extras for spice. Goal 1: As always, Nutrition Staying the course on my more recent nutritional guidelines: Smaller portions, less meat, more veggies, nutrient dense food options, no GI issues. Drink enough water. Eat with an eye toward Base MFP goals for slow weight loss: 1,260 calories, 20% protein, 50% carbs, 30% fat but without judgement if I go over or under on calories. Basically, eat what I’m going to eat - but by the fact of tracking, that tends to be more reasonable. I’ll also be continuing onto my third year of daily food photos (to go along with my Picture of the Day), since y’all seem to enjoy that and get something out of it. Goal 2: As always, a Fitness Component Staying my Druidy course of action (shocker) with 4-5 yoga classes per week - hoping to mix in live 3-D classes with my Zoom schedule. Not sure as of writing this how exactly that’ll take shape. Will update later. Also adding my wrist, ankle/quad/glute, and breath work rehab exercises here for accountability. Wrists & breath work are daily, along with trigger point massage; ankle/quad/glute work is every other day. Goal 3: Fulfillment This goal encompasses a bunch of small things I have going on a daily basis already - with a couple tweaks. The secondary digital project is new, but I’m enjoying learning how to create in this space so I think I’ll keep it up. Pup training is back - I think they’re ready to move on from just working on reactivity; we can find another project aside from deep naps. [ - ] Duolingo Arabic classes [ - ] Primary craft project [ - ] Secondary digital project [ - ] Enrichment feeds for the pups [ - ] Training for the pups Goal 4: Do Some Shit That Feels Adulty We have a few things on the fire at the moment, or hope to in the near future, so I will have goals & targets there. More on those as they materialize. Hopefully. I also still want to focus actual (step up from minimal) effort on my blog, so that goal is staying. Picture of the Day has been going strong for 10 years; I’ll be continuing that Weekly recipes are staying I’m hoping to add weekly ingredient spotlights e-Book(s) are happening this year At least a modicum of Pinterest effort is happening Working on yet again revamping my food photography style for this year And aside from that, I need to find something else to work toward so my brain doesn’t mush. Pulling sentences for the last big blog post I wrote was harder than it should have been, and it isn’t a great post, tbh. More on this one when I pick a course of action.

Greeting fellow rebels and new recruits! (I know the new challenge doesn't start until the new year, but why not start early? Besides, life is a continuous challenge and you can't exactly put that on hold.) A little bit about me: (sorry for everyone using tapatalk and unable to have spoilers hide the spoilers) As my title says, I am on a journey for self-knowledge. I decided to go down this rabbit hole after listening to an internet video from the school of life titled "The Dangers of Thinking Too Much; And Thinking Too Little." A certain passage really stuck out to me since I personally relate to it and the illustrated person in that little excerpt looks like my internal self. Here's the blurb: we deploy knowledge and ideas that carry indubitable prestige to stand guard against the emergence of more humble, but essential knowledge from our emotional past. we bury our personal stories beneath an avalanche of expertise. the possibility of a deeply consequential intimate inquiry is deliberately left to seem feeble and superfluous next to the supposedly grander task of [insert [insert pompous topic] I'm not sure if it's the posh accent or the large words, but it really struck close to home. I listen to too many podcasts about the past and present social world. And I listen to those at work when it's too quiet at work and I'm too afraid to be left with my thoughts. So this time I'm going to face these inner thoughts head on instead of filling it with non-self-knowledge. Also, I'm really disappointed in the forums lack of mental health section. I notice a lot of rebel mention the words "mental health," but there's no general place within the forum to turn to. I've looked up the phrase in quotations and gone through most of the topics and did the same. Either I completely overlooked it or there's nothing really here. Both of which is a shame. I'm going to be seriously editing my quests before the new years so these are just a rough draft: I'm completely leaving out the phrasing of "goals" since that means an end and physical and mental health are continuous processes. It's not like some master cleanse where you diet for 4 weeks and go straight back to old habits. Quest 1: Nutrition I'm going back to the smoothie drinking since I already know how to make a bomb drink, it's easier to eat than my normal meal prep lunches, and it's faster to consume so there's more time for me to do other things at work like journal prompts or reading a book. no bread or sweets no fast food track food on MFP Quest 2: Workout Last year I was really into my workouts. I really liked the 7-minute workout even though it turned into more of a 28-minute workout with the storyline quests. And the Fit for Battle app was super great at helping me build up my stamina. As much as I want to go to a gym it would be bad timing since the new year is starting Walk dog at least 5 times a week get step count in daily Quest 3: Mental health Maybe I'll start writing journal prompts so I can map those inner thoughts and find those patterns. Or maybe I'll do something with my bullet journal. Or just read a book or online article mention it here and write about how I can apply that to myself or my mental health routine if I can ever settle on one and repeat it long enough to call it one. journal prompt x5 weekly meditate for 5 minutes unlock the hidden mystery that is the counselor Quest 4: Level Up Your Life I'm going to practice Spanish every day and met my exp quota.

I have just moved to Pataskala Ohio and my husband is not really into working out or some of the more nerd things I like. I was looking for a buddy either in the area or online/txt who may also like video games, larp, renaissance faires, pokemon, sports, and who would be willing to help keep me accountable and be able to talk nerd as well . Nerd workouts are the best workouts! If you have/love pets as well I love going to the dog park for a work out for both me and my pups. As I am just restarting my adventure I do not have many weights so most of my workouts are bodyweight(though there is enough of that lol), walks, or I get creative with other activities such as sports, the dogpark, or larp. -Ecco

Another challenge, another chance to conquer. Let's do this! I'm super stoked for this challenge! I'll be doing a five-week challenge this time around, but I will be evaluating me quests on a week by week basis and edit, change, swap, or remove any quests as necessary MAIN QUEST Land a new job and get fit doing it WEEK 0 QUESTS QUEST ONE: badland training (WEEK 0) alternate between strength training and running in the mornings and do x4 per week (I'll be using the superhero app from six to start for strength and a C25K app for running) QUEST TWO: saving food rations (WEEK 0) meal prep breakfast, snacks, and dinners (lunch will be dinner leftovers) find out the family's schedule so meal portions are enough find recipes for meal prepping hunt down the food cook the food QUEST THREE: bunkering down (WEEK 0) read a book +30 minutes before bed/ go to bed before 11 pm and wake up early/ get+7 hrs of sleep LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE QUEST: badland bounty hunting (WEEK 0) sit down after morning routine and send out at least 3 applications WEEK 1 QUESTS QUEST ONE: badland training (WEEK 1) alternate between strength training and yoga in the mornings and do x4 per week superhero app from six to start for strength and a youtube yoga videos) QUEST TWO: saving food rations (WEEK 1) Count calories and input water into MFP at least x5 per week QUEST THREE: bunkering down (WEEK 1) Shut off all electronics before 10:30 pm, read a book +30 minutes before bed/ go to bed before 11 pm and wake up early/ get+7 hrs of sleep LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE QUEST: badland bounty hunting (WEEK 1) sit down after morning routine and send out at least 3 applications

On the agenda for this challenge: Dog sitting three lovely dogs from Feb. 19 - March 9 Continue preparing for my return to England for a PhD Hopefully get my passport and visa back so I can schedule my flight Goal 1: Sleep hygiene Screen curfew at 8 pm (7:30 pm if I still need to shower before bed) all the nights. Meditate for 10+ minutes before bed 6x/week. Exception: *After* I get ready for bed, I can Skype my boyfriend for a total of three hours past my curfew, summed over the week. Watching a show/movie with him during this time is allowed, but other internet browsing is not unless it's something that needs to be done for my return (e.g., paperwork for our flat). Each curfew infringement past 15 min --> I have to subtract one hour from that extra time with my boyfriend. Goal 2: Food prep Prep my food for each day the day before at least 6x/week. Bonus: prep for 2-3 days at once so I only have to meal prep 2-3 times/week. For me this means 1. Portion out my meat (and cook more meat if I need to). 2. Weigh and microwave sweet potatoes. 3. Cook free-choice veggies. 4. Optional: portion out some coconut oil. 5. Bonus: add food to MFP once it's portioned out. Goal 3: Mobility Mobility? What's that? Recently I haven't been doing any mobility outside of my gym sessions, which is suboptimal. Spend a total of 1.5 hrs/week on mobility (yoga, stretching, foam rolling, lax ball work, etc…) outside of gym sessions. I'm allowed to multi-task when working on mobility (what do you mean it's weird to foam roll while Skyping?) LUYL Goal Work 15+ hrs/week. Work = finishing school paperwork, reading the literature in my field, working online courses, learning maths, organizing my research-related papers and notes, conversations with my supervisor, etc. Ideally I'll work up to 20 hrs/work, but I'm not going to stress about hitting that number since I'll also have the dog care as a job (+ house sitting for my mom who is also on holiday until March 1). It's been a while since I've completely aced a challenge, so it's past time to break my streak of mediocrity. Towards this end, I also have an unofficial goal to post my workouts and regular updates this time around! And maybe one day I'll be properly active on the forums again...

Guess who's back? That's right! Me, good ol' Korra. It's been a little over 6 months since I went awol, but I just couldn't stay away. Once a rebel, always a rebel. And guess what? I graduated college! I've got that milestone over and done with. No thanks to my university. I'm pretty salty about the whole college experience. Heck, my college cut over half the classes in the college of the liberal and fine arts leaving half the professors with barely a working wage and the other half were either forced to find work elsewhere or into retirement. And don't get me started on my personal career advisor. Since my original one was on leave I was given a new one. At the beginning of the semester, everything was running smoothly when he told me I had everything in order to graduate. Then all of a sudden I get an email a few weeks before graduation stating that he had overlooked a few things and that I was suddenly missing credit hours and couldn't graduate. And this was after I sent out the graduation invitations and ordered my ring. I wasn't sent un-invitation cards to everyone, waste another semester and add a few thousand more dollars to my already crippling student debt because of this. I filled out paperwork for graduation, crammed for a few CLEP exams, and walked the stage and earned my diploma. Now the only problem is finding a job. I've got a shiny new degree and no career to follow it up with. Ah, the struggle of a post-graduate. And I still live with the folks and work retail. At least I made the main goal of my last challenge. I graduated and that's all that matters. 2016 was a grand dumpster fire, though. During that year I: - Got my first real b/f -was dumped by said b/f -pledged for a fraternity disguised as a business organization (for a friend) -got rejected by said fraternity (and said friend made it in and hasn't spoken to me since) -I got a job at a pet store (and still have it) where I get paid to hug puppies -gotten carried away with Pokemon go -forgot how to socialize my last semester out of fear of failing a class - cut 19in/48cm of my hair off -did a summer internship at a non-profit and witnessed some top notch burnout my hair use to look like this now it looks like this 2017 is gonna be different. During this year I'm gonna: -find me a real career -be able to afford my own teeny tiny studio apartment -start making payments on my student loans -go back to college for grad school -lose some weight -run a 5k -run a 10k -run something bigger -think about writing that book that's like HP meets Attack on Titans meets Soma meets D&D where the origins of magic is macabre and the definition of what it means to be human is really questioned But hey... baby steps. It's only a few days into the new year and I've already signed up for Rising Heroes and gotten a months subscription to a new yoga studio with the fam. By the end of the week, I hope to persuade them to start meal planning. We sorta already had to change out eating habits around Maleficent (aka my stepmom) since she had 80 percent of her stomach removed for weight loss surgery. That's life. ~~~ for now, I'll stick to the small things Main Quest: Get a job Health Quest 1: Food -Drink +72oz of water per day Health Quest 2: Exercise -workout x4 a week Health Quest 3: Sleep -get +7hrs of sleep Level Up Your Life: Language -practice duolingo x4 a week let's do this

2016 was a very interesting year for me. I had victories. I had losses. I am still here. However the year has made me realise that what I really want to be is antifragile. I don't want to be broken by mountains or go around them. I want to go through them. One of the biggest problems that occured last year was that I let my health go, both mentally and physically. I struggle to do basic things to take care of myself. With that in mind, my goals for the first challenge of 2017 are: Each challenge gets 100 XP to spend XP POSSIBLE XP EARNED PROGRESS NOTES & BONUSES & PREREQUISITES 100 0 0% Challenge One - January 8 - February 4 100 0 0% 1.1 Brush hair once and teeth twice a day 15 0% Total of 28 times this must be complete 1.2 Walk the dogs four times a week 30 0% 16 walks 1.3 Only eat out twice a week 30 0% 8 eat out meals (this includes buying lunch, or junk dinners) 1.4 Spend a minimum of 5 minutes with the barbell two days a week 25 0% 8 sessions

My first-proper-challenge-in-a-while, settling-in-back-home, fairly-flexible-goals challenge went pretty well. I also identified a few things I need to work on, which will be the focus of this next challenge: GOAL 1: Putting the final food pieces together a) Track every day using MFP. Right now I'm too sensitive to calorie/macro levels (and too bad at staying close enough to my target without logging) to not track. The goal is to run a slight deficit, but I'm not setting any explicit limits now because I'm not sure what the sweet spot is -- however, I do have one macros goal... b ) Get 130+ grams of protein each day. 140-160 grams is better. c) Properly start the reintroduction phase of the AIP diet. Use a food journal to keep track of any reactions. d) Eat at least 1/2 pound of liver/week. e) Take ALL the supplements. I'm pretty good about this, but there are 2-3 doses that I tend to miss. GOAL 2: Mobility a) Mobility WOD style mobility work at least 4x/week. Because yoga isn't enough for me these days. b ) At least 3 15+ minute yoga sessions/week (outside of my warm-up and cool-down for lifting sessions). Because yoga is really helpful even if it's not enough! GOAL 3: Screen curfew No phone or computer screen time after 8 pm, with the exception of "I'm alive" type texts and meditation apps. Carrying this over from the previous challenge because I know I won't keep it up unless it's an explicit goal. Bonus points for putting away the phone/computer before the cut-off. LUYL GOAL: Meditation Meditate at least 6x/week before 5 pm. I've had good meditation streaks before, but have had trouble making it a consistent habit, possibly in part because I usually meditate before going to bed. While that's great for unwinding, trying to work my weak meditation muscle when I'm really tired isn't setting me up for success -- hence the time component to this goal. Bonus points for also meditating before bed and for reading Full Catastrophe Living. Other miscellaneous notes: Lifting program is still a version of 5/3/1... just deloaded so I'm not expecting to hit PRs this challenge (besides high bar squat PRs since it's the first time I've focused on them in a while). I'm travelling the first week of August and will probably not lift that week, but I do plan to keep up with my goals. The dog theme is because 1) cutting sucks and dogs make everything better, and 2) I have an orientation on July 26th so I can start volunteering at a local dog rescue! Please spam my thread with many many more dog photos.

Oh, look at this! The next challenge is up and I was actually paying attention! This is very exciting and unprecedented. Right in the middle of this challenge, I'll be closing on our house and one step closer to moving to Colorado. So my big sweeping goals for the month are something like this: Pre-close: Continue to camp out in my mostly packed house, packing, doing the billion things involved in selling a house, trying to eat the random stuff left in my pantry and keep my dog company. [/img] She only really needs whipped cream. Post-move: Dog goes with the husband in CO, I move into a family member's winter home (with wi-fi again, thank god), and really buckle down on a CO job search and what my next move is. And through it all, some constants in the form of my semi-regular goals: Eating- Continue to track on MFP (if anyone wants to be friends there, I'd really like to spy on people's menus), try harder to hit macro goals, and eat at least one serving of vegetables for every fruit serving (0 for 0 doesn't count). I'm finding my carbs are mostly coming from starches and sugar and I aim to adjust. Sleep- Set a bedtime, phone off, for 10pm or 11pm if I got a nap, every night. Reading a paper book is okay while I transition. Sweat- Not actually because I don't really sweat, I just pass out and that's a problem, but I digress. Activity, daily. I think mostly walking at the dog park pre-move and sprinting in the pool post-move, with bodyweight or gym days sprinkled in. This is going to be my downfall, but I have to do it. For fun, practice German more consistently. Pre-move use my some language software I have, Post-move get back to DuoLingo with extra web resources. Okay, that's the gist. This is still week 0 so it's a dabble week. I.e. I've eaten well today but I'm about to destroy some ice cream. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Out of the shadows, two figures emerge. One walks on two legs, and may look vaguely familiar to seasoned Assasins. She seems unsure, but emboldened by her canine companion she straightens her posture and walks with greater purpose. "We got a little lost, but we are back now. And ready for the real work to begin." ----- Hey, I'm Garjan. I was somewhat active a year or so ago. Life got busy and I skipped off the forums. Though I continued some level of activity and healthy eating, I would like to progress from my stagnant routine and begin improving again. And now I have a four-legged companion to include on my journeys. QUESTS 1) Hydration Every Day: Track daily water consumption. Drink at minimum 1.2 Liters (aka drain the Klean Kanteen twice). 2) Be Present Every Day: At least 15 minutes of PLAY with pup, no tech/distractions. At least 5 min training. (This is on top of the daily walks). 3) Workout Weekly: Beginner Bodyweight circuit at least once per week. 4) Sleeeeep 7 hours per night - Work day bed time: 10:30 ; Work day wake up: 5:30. Weekends: Avoid crazy late nights, dog wakes up by 7 anyway... ----- Current state: I am already doing some of this, but not on the routine basis that I would like. Especially the adhering to bedtime (laying in bed checking tumblr after 10:30, etc). Weekends are waaaay different hours which leaves me dragging on Mondays. Water is a sore point. Some days I'm awesome, most days I barely touch the stuff. Loot: Sleep & Hydration - Success (90%) means I get to buy that awesome CD I've been eyeing lately. Sonata Arctica's Ecliptica Revisited

The winter blahs have set in here in Minnesota... So let's start a warm and fuzzy thread where we can show off out furry (or scale-y) companions! Feel free to post pics, share funny or heartwarming stories... anything pet related is a-ok. ...Cause who doesn't love a good pet thread?

Wait wait wait! I'm here! Am I late? Shit, I'm late. At least I made it I dropped out of the last challenge a mere 2 weeks in feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and sick of beating myself for not meeting the challenge goals. Tortillas were eaten. Belts were loosened. Lessons were learned. Lesson #1: Make realistic goals. Lesson #2: Work hard, but don't strive for perfection. Perfectionism haunts me in many areas of my life. Sometimes I won't even attempt something in anticipation of the stress that will follow if I can't get it perfect (part of me wanted to skip this challenge for that reason.) But dang it if that isn't a recipe for mediocrity and some seriously sad living. Back in April when I joined Nerd Fitness I said... “I don't just want to lose weight. I also want to get really fit... to be an outdoor badass. Climb rocks and trees and hike and backpack and cycle and swim in rivers. I want to feel vital and healthy, and embrace life more fully.†And that holds true. But man, there's some work to be done and it ain't gonna do itself! Step one: in keeping with a theme of some of these posts... suck. it. up. Alternatively: just show up. Main Quest: Lose 70 pounds (long term)/keep up with Mijo (puppy!) Goal 1: Nutrition! Log food 6 days a week. Emphasis on whole foods. (6 pts/week) Goal 2: Strength and flexibility. BBWW 2x/week. 20 minutes yoga 3x/week. (5 pts/week) Goal 3: Walk, ride, hoop. 150 minutes/week. (1 pt per 25 minutes, 6 pts/week) Life Goal: PUPPYLOVE Spend 1 ½ hours each day actively playing with/training pup each day. Obviously we spend more time together than this, but I'm talking playing fetch/chasing each other around the yard/going on walks. This will overlap with goal 3! (7 pts/week) Extra Credit: Meditate! ½ a point for every 10 minute session. I'll add a point breakdown later! In the meantime, a photo of pupperoni: ]

Previously I've been focused on Strength, Skill and Endurance but after 5 challenges like that, it's time for a change! So back to this challenge... I love CrossFit. I live and breathe it on a daily basis and it's the highlight of my day. I noticed recently that I am struggling with body weight movements and running because I am so heavy. I guess that's what happens when you're a 6 foot tall Wookiee Ranger! So I've decided to get rid of the extra fat that I'm carting around so that I can increase my efficiency during workouts and in life. My goal is to get to 17-20% bodyfat. I have about 8-11% to go. I don't need words to motivate me at home, so I won't be writing out anything. My motivation is knowing that I'm essentially carrying around a 10kg medicine ball on every single run and workout that I do. My Quest To become a (lighter) CrossFit BEAST! aka a strong, supremely fit CrossFitter who excels in lifting, bodyweight movements and endurance. Starting Stats Age: 30 Height: 183cm (6'0) Weight: TBA (currently 84.4kg) BF: 28% (DEXA) Current Skills: Push-ups: 15 strict Pull-up: 1 kipping pull-up; 2 strict (lightest band) Pistol squat: purple band T2B: 1 Double unders: 42 unbroken 1000m row: 3:47 500m row: 1:41 Wall Handstand: 2:00 Deadlift: 102.5kg (226lbs) Back squat: 77kg (170lbs) Front squat: 65kg (143lbs) Overhead squat: 37kg (81.5lbs) Power clean: 58.5kg (129lbs) Clean: 61kg (134lbs) Power snatch: 40kg (88lbs) Snatch: 42kg (93lbs) Strict press: 40kg (88lbs) Push press: 50kg (110lbs) Push jerk: 52kg (115lbs) Jerk: 60kg (132lbs) Thruster: 45kg (99lbs) Bench press: 45kg (99lbs) KB swing: 24kg (53lbs) KB snatch: 20kg (44lbs) Main Goals 1. Develop Strength Under the Bar (STR 3 | STA 0.5) a) Hatch squat program (back squats & front squats 2 sessions/week) b ) Oly lifting sessions (minimum 2 sessions/week) End of challenge goals: i) Snatch >= 45kg (+3kg) ii) C&J >= 65kg (+5kg) iii) Bench press >= 50kg (+5kg) 2. Improve bodyweight movements (STR 2 | STA 1 | DEX 0.5) a) Extra skills/strength sessions weekly focusing on the below movements (minimum 4 extra sessions per week) End of challenge goals: i) Handstand push-up (Goal: 5kg plate + ab mat) ii) Strict pull-up (Goal: unassisted) iii) Pistol squat (Goal: orange band assisted) iv) Flexed arm hang (Goal: >30 seconds) v) Double unders (Goal: >50) 3. Get rid of the dead weight! (CON 2 | CHA 1) a) Reduced calorie intake (aiming 1500 cal/day) b ) Log all food daily c) Paleo + occasional dairy (once per day max) d) Alcohol once maximum during challenge e) Fish minimum once per week f) Repeat DEXA scan once at 78kg (not necessarily in this challenge) End of challenge goal: i) Weight <80kg Side Quest (STR 1 | STA 1) Compete in first CrossFit competition Life Quests 1. Back to the books! (WIS 1 | CHA 1) I don't find time to read as much as I would like, so I am going to set myself a little challenge of reading every day. It doesn't have to be much, even just one chapter! a) Read one chapter of Game of Thrones book 1 per day b ) Read one chapter of my Sports Medicine text book per week. Make notes. Revise relevant anatomy as appropriate. End of challenge goals: i) 36 chapters read of GOT ii) 6 chapters read of Sports Medicine textbook 2. Level Up the Dogs! (WIS 0.5 | CHA 0.5) It has been almost 6 months since I competed with my dogs and I miss it a lot (and so do they!) So this is an 'extra' life goal for the puppies. a) Attend a minimum of 4 Obedience/Rally-O trials and compete with all 3 dogs. End of challenge goals: i) Jedi's Goal: Rally Excellent title ii) Ahsoka's Goal: Rally Advanced title iii) Revan's Goal: Rally Advanced title + another Novice Obedience pass

He bought a keg refrigerator today. Because he went to Costco and it was there. He has been putting it together, and driving around looking for a place to fill the carbon dioxide tank most of the day. Time to tap the keg. Only he forgot a step. Beer sprays everywhere. He wails. I fix. Puppies are probably going to be too drunk to walk with me tonight, as they lapped faster than we could remove or clean. But his new toy is working. Here's the irony. I don't drink at all. He drinks very rarely. That keg? It's going to be there for a year. Sorry. Had to post. Too funny not to share, and he reads my Facebook. How many calories does roflmao burn, anyway?