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Hey y'all! I'm fairly new here so this is my first challenge, but I'm gonna give it my best shot. For some background, since the start of the year I've been focusing on weight loss and general toning, with the most recent goal of looking and feeling good at my brothers wedding. This happened very recently and worked out pretty well - but now I need to keep my momentum and also change it up a little. Hoping this challenge format will help keep me on track! I'm gonna try bucket things into what (to me) are the three core character sheet attributes; Physical, Mental and Social. I'll be focusing on Physical but the other two should tie in nicely I hope. Physical I've been fairly consistent on getting exercise in over the course of this year, but I'd really like to focus in on building some muscle and improving my cardio health. To that end I've got two goals for my exercise during this challenge: Figure out a good weights/strength routine and do it twice a week. I have 1kg and 3kg sets of dumb bells and a 6kg and 8kg kettlebell, it's just a case of using them consistently and well. Do some sort of cardio twice a week. Jump rope, a decent walk, Beat Saber on my VR rig, anything that gets my heart rate up in those good ranges. For both of these I need to keep my bodies abilities in mind and not over extend or damage my knees more, so that's gonna be key as much as anything. And then one nutrition related goal: Drink less alcohol when socialising. A little is fine, a lot spikes my heart rate for 24-48 hours afterwards and just isn't worth the hangover or calories. My general nutrition is fine - I love cooking, I'm real fond of fruit and veg and I've gotten into a good routine for my day to day - so no changes needed there. Social One big goal here: Organise and host a weekend camping get together in my garden There's lots of smaller moving parts to this - we've just started getting our deck renovated so that needs to be finished, I need to actually finish inviting people, I need to keep the grass in check and get a lot of brambles under control . But! It's been something I've always wanted to do, and now that I live somewhere with a big enough garden (I moved way out into the country from the city centre last autumn) I really want it to happen. Mental One big goal, and one maintenance related: Keep gardening regularly. Seeing things I've tended from small or planted from seed grow to full blown plants is crazily rewarding. Added bonus if I can eat them too. Make and attend an appointment with my ADHD psych for a med review. I keep putting this off and I need to stop procrastinating on it. Stat Boost? My end goal is pretty fluid here! If I come out of this feeling stronger and healthier than I went in, then it's a win.

The Announcement of Intentions for this Challenge FOR THIS CHALLENGE I, SNARKYFISHGUTS, WILL COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING log food n My Fitness Pal, and make adjustments to my diet in a slow progression to a more balanced way of eating that will help me lose weight. Exercise nearly every day! I also want to go on more hikes this month! Complete a list of chores in the garden/yard. Continuously fight against the endless weeds✔️✔️ Plant lavender around the house.✔️ edge the flowerbeds✔️ put down mulch in the flowerbeds✔️ clean and treat wood railing. ✔️ Clean the service room and organize the garden tools Clean up the woodpile and burn lots of wood this month ✔️ relocate hostas ✔️ I had some extra items here, but I think this is going to be all I can get done this time!

So I have been struggling on my challenges for a few years(understatement), but I thought deeply and realized what made me really happy when I was most active on NF around 2015. It was a rucking PVP. Taking this knowledge and what I need to do to improve myself I enrolled in the weight loss PVP for the next 10 weeks. I am right above 170lbs and would like to get below 160lbs by Memorial Day weekend, specifically Saturday May 29th. I leave for a week long vacation in the Florida Keys and am staying on the water and will be bringing my boat. I think that whole week will be spent fishing, snorkeling, spearing, swimming, boozing, and eating fish. So obviously my one goal is to lose some weight. I also need to exercise daily. Yes daily, no rest days. Every day will include a 30-45 minute ruck(more if I am up for it). After the ruck I will lift Mon/Wed/Fri and then run Tues/Thurs/Sat. Sunday is going to be a hard 2 miler since one of my goals this year is to get that sub 6:30 pace. Each workout is followed by my stretching routine. I need to seriously restart my eating habits. I have been pretty good the past couple weeks but now need to crack down. I meal prep for work and do great during the week, but the weekend is the put it all back time. So I am going to attempt to eat only whole foods with a lot of veggies. I already am there 5 days a week. Also as far as alcohol goes, no more IPA's and thick bois. I need to stick with mixed drinks, wine, and white claws/ultras. I also need to limit myself to Friday and Saturday only, as well as 2-3 on each of those days. Maybe I will try something where I can have 3 or 4 drinks per weekend. I'll play with it. Goals: Weigh under 160lbs Ruck 100 miles Run 50 miles Continue to hit my 2021 goals

Challenges: 31: Apr '18 - Jedi belt, Mjolnir, work skirts 32: May '18 - Extra masters class, attitude 33: Jul '18 - Weird... NF lost this challenge. Started Mjolnir, extra masters class. 34: Aug '18 - Kenpo knives, Mjolnir 35: Sept '18 - Start Thor breastplate, poke at shorthand 36: Oct '18 - Halloween outfit, winterize garden 37: Nov '18 - Winter party outfit, maintain 38: Jan '19 - Finish Thor breastplate, redo resume 39: Feb '19 - Finish Thor sabatons, cape, skirts; book edit 40: Mar '19 - Finish Thor breastplate details, lots of other stuff, propose Got back late Tuesday from 2 weeks' vacation abroad. While it was lovely, it was disruptive to my hobbies and goals, so I want to get back on track with all of those. To Do: Garden: plant backyard garden, finish replacing beds in large garden, take down "greenhouse" under stairs, plant large garden. Sewing: replace Jedi under-belt, recreate green work skirt. Thermoplastics: finish bracer, start new Mjolnir project, finish/ make more practice knives. Exercise: resume weights, continue PT, institute daily kenpo practice. I am taking language practice off my mental list of things to track. It's a well-seated habit and I was easily able to communicate while abroad, so I am not going to stress about it. I was able to keep up with PT and cardio while abroad; now I need to re-establish weightlifting, and figure out how to add 10 minutes of daily kenpo practice. Otherwise, just keeping on, keeping on, working my way through projects. If I had to pick one "challenge" for this round, it would be to actually finish the bracers and the jedi under-belt wrap, and start on Mjolnir. That's my pass/fail.

For the first time in 3-4 years, I will not be taking a class this semester, so my schedule just blew wide open. Typically, it takes about 2-3 days for me to get confused by free time, and start whining about how bored I am despite a plethora of things to do, forsaken responsibilities, and stuff I've said I want to get done "when I have time." The next few challenges will focus on giving me things I HAVE to do, so I don't come to the end of my break and have nothing to show for it. Goals to complete this challenge (all are pass/fail): Make at least one wearable skirt: Kilted or gathered, it must be completely wearable. Restructure my weights workout (see life goal): Figure out which steps of the life goal to work on first and add or sub them to my workout. Done! Install a border along the fence: Every time I water the back garden, it just rolls off into next door's yard. I got a border to fix that, it just needs placed. Find and schedule a Russian tutor: Duolingo is great, but with no other classes, I can ramp this up. Research and schedule at least the first meeting. Prepare for our trip and go on it: My gentleman and I are going on our first ever vacation to London and Ireland, leaving September 11. I have a lengthy list of things to do to prep for it. They must all be done, and not the night before we leave. Long-term goals to complete before next class: Measure the back porch/stairs and make plans to close it in: My fruit trees/bushes need a place to winter over. Create a plan for the strawberry bed in the big garden: I am not happy with the current layout; would like to add tiers, stepping stones, and ground cover to prevent weeds. Make at least three wearable skirts: I WANT KILTS!!!! Measurable life goal: I finally found out what the below move is called, and have made it my goal to be able to do a pike to handstand or press handstand. I recognize that I have a lot of work to do to get here, but I have a goal! There are lots of helpful sites out there with tips on what to work on and how, and my first step is to sort through them and come up with a working plan (see current goal #2). Allowing for a lot of mistakes, I hope to do this by the time I'm 40 (3.5 years). Rewards: 80% done: I can order 1 new fruit tree for spring 2017. 100% done: I can order 3 new fruit trees or 2 trees and another berry bush. (Yes, my goal is to have a dwarf orchard). I realize that I am often super ambitious and schedule way too much to do, but since I still seemed to get lots of stuff done while I was taking classes and working.... I'm going to go for it. Failing all else, it will give me a better idea of how much I can accomplish for the next challenge. As per usual, my running and weights workouts, healthy eating goals, and parkour classes will be going on in the background. Ok, enough talking, here's my life goal:

Hi Everyone! My name is Ash. This is my first challenge as a Druid, and I'm hoping to set up a semi-permanent home here. I'm 25 years old, and I have a lot going on in my life. Too much actually. I work a full time job that is draining my soul away in order to pay the bills, and three (yes, you read that right, three) part time jobs to help pay down debt and save for my upcoming wedding. I volunteer with 5 community groups on a regular basis. I have a home with a partner, a dog, and three cats that needs constant attention. I'm getting married in October, and my family is making the wedding planning incredibly stressful. Needless to say, I've lost touch with myself. I feel like I'm just running from one commitment to the next, and I'm certainly not making enough time for myself. I've been caught in a really negative rut recently, and I have a feeling that it has a lot to do with my lack of self-care and needing to reconnect with myself. So, for this challenge, I'm going to focus on making things better for myself. Goal One: Declutter this house! My house if full of crap that I don't need. We moved in May, and there are boxes that we haven't opened, and I have no idea what is in them. My goal is to get rid of (donate, sell, trash) one thing for every day of the challenge. Hopefully this will also translate into our house getting a little bit cleaner. Right now, I can't find my kitchen table, or my counters, or my bathroom floor. It's disgusting in here. Goal Two: Drink water. Coffee has been my life-sustaining force over the past few months, but I know it's wreaking havoc on my body. I'm constantly tired and I get caffeine headaches regularly. It's time to focus on getting some more water into my life again. My goal is to drink 1200mL of water every day. Goal Three: Yoga I have a gym membership that I use maybe once a month. I know they offer yoga classes, so my goal is to try and get to at least three yoga classes during the challenge. Bonus points if I do some yoga at home. Goal Four: Meditate Mindfulness is something that I really need to be working on. My relationships with others have suffered because I've been spending so much time thinking about all of the things that I need to do. I haven't been taking care to spend time for myself, just being in the moment. My goal is to spend some time in meditation every day. It doesn't need to be huge sessions, but just setting aside a few minutes, whenever I get a chance. As an aside, I'd like to spend some time getting seedlings ready for the garden. I'm not making this a goal, because I feel like it adds pressure to get it done, but it is something that I would really love to do over the next week. I have everything that I need, I just need a bit of time to get my hands dirty. Feedback is appreciated! Hopefully this goes well.

My ultimate goal is to fit comfortably into UK size 14 trousers. To do that, I need to drop a dress size and I want to do this by losing fat. I feel like I've got a good grip on workouts and food / diet so this challenge is about getting through a stressful time at work by making good use of my spare time, looking after the basics whilst still indulging my creative side. 1. 200k steps! STA+2 CON+1 CHA+1 Strap on the pedometer, get up and walk around. A = More than 221k steps B = 211k steps to 220999 steps C = 200k steps to 210999 steps F = Fewer than 200k steps. 2. Powerpoint! WIS+4 My employers have provided me with an advanced course in Powerpoint, all paid for, but I need to find a few hours a week to learn it, practice it and take an exam. I aim to take my exam by the end of May. A = Learned, practiced and exam date set B = Still practicing, nearly there C = Still learning, not sure whether I could pass the exam but I will take it F = Nowhere near ready, will have to defer the exam. 3. Hydrate! CON+2 CHA+2 My body is showing signs of dehydration. This needs to change, since the weather is getting warmer and more water is needed. Also I'm aiming to lose fat and variations in hydration can affect measured body composition. I will be recording the amount of water I drink and making sure to drink when I am thirsty. My target is 3.5 litres per day. I'm treating this like a 30-day hard hat challenge for the whole of the 6 weeks. Pass = Never miss 2 days in a row Fail = Miss 2 or more days in a row. 4. Dolly garden! DEX+3 Does that sound rude to you too?!? My home storage facility (*coughs* - dollhouse - *coughs*) was built in June 2012 yet two of the rooms still are not decorated. Being an unconventional type, I want one "room" to be a garden. It needs paint, wallpaper, flowers and a fence at least. At the moment it's just a dusty white box which is full of random stuff. A = What a beautiful dolly garden! B = Mostly done but needs a little more work C = Shows signs of improvement but looks like a building site F = Still dusty and full of random stuff.

I was supposed to start this challenge with excitement and strength and good news. Instead my heart has been broken again. I’ve lost another baby and am feeling utterly defeated. As well as this Next year hold much uncertainty about my job. I will still have a job but where and doing what is out of my hands and in those of upper management because of huge structural changes going on. So I’ve come to the druids for nourishment and recuperation. Motivation: My daughter. Always my daughter. To be a good role model for her and be able to give her an awesome childhood. Goal: to increase my energy and decrease my migraines. To find joy in my body again (vague I know but I can’t put my finger on it more than that) Quest one: Read Gods word. Every day. No exception. Write down what he is telling me. I feel most alive when I am with Him. I feel connected, loved and whole. I need to work on this connection so much. I have a diary by my bed I can write in all ready and the bible on my phone so no excuses. Quest two: write a meal plan and stick to it. I do this but I don’t stick to it and eat out way too much (I’ve been using a budget app recently that has highlighted this to me). At the moment the quality of food I have isn’t the focus but making a plan and sticking to it. Better food can come later. Quest three: Move every day. I love yoga with adriene. It’s getting hot here in Australia and I’m very pale and there are snakes around here so going outside won’t always be an option but a 20min yoga video is doable. Bonus for getting my daughter in on it with me. Quest four: work towards getting my landscaping finished THREE DAMN YEARS!! We got ripped off and money stolen from us a few years ago and then we had a baby so no money anymore! I need to find the steps to do this Order more dirt, fill in in retaining wall Another layer of stones Front retaining wall Fill in with dirt Set up vege patch Set up chicken runIf I can get 1 and 2 done I’ll be so happy. Quest five: do something fun with Wilhelmina every week. I do full time shift work as a nurse and am not always a very fun mum. I am tired or need to get the housework done (my awesome husband tries but he isn’t very organised). I need to take the time to focus solely on her and I at least once a week. Go out, do something, enjoy it. I know this seems like a lot but they are tiny goals really. Things I already do but not with any focus.

Hey all. So I'm still pretty new to Paleo, the forums and gardening, but this year I have a backyard and some good intentions on having a vegetable garden. I live in Western MA, so I'm wondering what stuff I need to start seeding things that would be (A.) Paleo (B.) Region compatible What would be good in my garden? Please and Thank you!

lately, i have been compelled to work with my hands. this results from a combination of factors - living in a house with garages, sheds and a backyard, etc. the next quest i intend to embark upon is that of gardening/landscaping. to be specific, i would like to plant some ground cover over some spots in my yard that are bare due to their location in the shade and out of the sunlight. would any of you rebels be able to give me advice on how to excel at this task? what resources would you be able to refer to me?