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The First Challenge. The first challenge of year, and my very own first challenge. The challenge that shows who is truly Amazon...and who is a mere mortal. A true trial by FIRE. I'M SO BLOODY EXCITED! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THE NEW FORUMS TO COME UP SINCE LAST YEAR!! I am BlackTezca, on my way to becoming Amazon: fit, strong, battle hardy, all that jazz. I've never been a very big person (neither horizontally and definitely not vertically), I've never considered myself to be fit or that strong either. And that is very much a big deal to me. I want to feel powerful, as I described in my introduction post. I want to be more than just a software engineering Otaku. I want to be a software engineering Otaku who also looks like Wonder Woman. And there it is: My Main Quest is to be as POWERFUL and BATTLE READY as Wonder Woman A more bottom heavy Wonder Woman but you know... To do this, I need to keep on building up on the habits I have slowly started and LEVEL UP. Thus for my first challenge I have these three side quests: Side Quest 1: Exercise 5 to 6 days a week for 45 to 60 minutes Details: I work out home, utilizing body weight workouts and workout videos. Pretty mostly from FitnessBlender. I do mostly the level 3 and level 4 workouts with a level 5 thrown in for pain and a level 2 thrown in for flexibility and a break if the level 5 killed me the day before. I tend to use do a lot of their kickboxing videos as well since they are the most fun. I want to keep this up and push myself to workout most of the week and due to the variety is why I gave myself some stamina, strength, and dexterity for stat rewards. Contingencies: Some travel towards the end of the challenge may hamper this. I'll be walking A LOT, but I'll need to keep up my body weight training so the 20 minute hotel workout will be most useful, as well as some of the superhero workouts from NeilARey. Tracking: I'll be tracking using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) and on January 5th, FitnessBlender does a new site launch which will have a calendar feature, so I'll be tracking there as well. Of course this lovely thread will be updated. Grading: A for 5+ days a week ( 2 Sta 2 Str 2 Dex ) B for mostly 4 days a week ( 2 Sta 1 Str 1 Dex ) C for mostly 3 days a week ( 1 Sta 1 Dex ) F for all else Side Quest 2: Eat below my daily caloric limit (accounting for exercise) and stick BELOW my carb and sugar macro while not caring if I eat ABOVE my fat and protein 6 days a week. Details: I'll be leaning more Primal towards my food: avoiding the gains and legumes, eating veggies and fruits, scarfing down meat, and doing my best to ignore candy, donuts, beer, all those things that I typically scarf down. Beer and Lattes are a weakness: I'll be drinking tea and coffee with some cream and stevia for sweetener and will stock up on red wine instead for when the craving for a nightcap hits. There is still some fight again conventional wisdom I may have, but I have support and control over what I put in my mouth. Contingencies: There is some traveling I'll be doing during towards the end of the challenge to a place where...uh...grains are hard to avoid. I'll do my best to keep my sugar underneath as well as keep my caloric intake about 1500 a day during that time (somewhat above my 1350 base on MFP, but not so much that fat gain is a big concern). This will be a tough thing for me but I'll do my best to stay positive and behave myself. Tracking: I use MyFitnessPal (username BlackTezca ) to keep track of my food and drink consumption. I'll also update this thread with progress. Grading: A for 6+ days a week ( 3 Con ) B for mostly 5 days a week ( 2 Con ) C for mostly 4 days a week ( 1 Con ) F for all else Side Quest 3: Be in bed by 11 pm on business days to try and get 7 hours of sleep Details: The hours before I work are the times I am the most free to work out without feeling drained from my, admittedly not active, but at times FRUSTRATING career. Because I don't have a gym at my work nor do I have gym subscription yet and various other excuses, working out at home is most convenient. But lo, I end up de-stressing first. Thus giving myself an hour or so BEFORE I get ready to work is the most convenient option...unfortunately that means getting my lazy ass up early and I need some hours of sleep for that. Contingencies: There really isn't any contingencies. On days that I don't work, I'll be getting 7 or more hours of sleep Tracking: I'll be tracking this on this thread on a semi-daily to weekly basis. Grading: A for being in bed at 11 to 11:15 pm 90 to 100% business days for this challenge ( 2 Con 1 Cha ) B for being in bed at 11 to 11:15 pm 80 to 89% of business days for this challenge ( 2 Con ) C for being in bed at 11 to 11:15 pm 70 to 79% of business days for this challenge ( 1 Con ) F for all else Okay and there it is- wait...I mentioned ARTSY up there...didn't I? I NEED TO DRAW! HOLY CRAP I NEED TO DRAW AGAIN AND I HAVEN'T BEEN BECAUSE I SUCK AND I'M LAAAAAAHHHHHHHHZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYYY. *DEEEP SIGH* Life Quest (Updated 01/07/2015): Draw an image, sketch, illustration, The Last Supper, SOMETHING once a week Details: I had a REALLY big art kick last year that died because of some stupid event (*coughs* lay off *coughs*) and I need to get back into drawing! I can draw (eh) and I like doing so cause it helps my crazy imagination so I am FORCING this on myself to draw and not let my art squandered like I did YEARS ago. Contingencies (Updated 01/07/2015): No contingencies. Even when I travel I can sketch a bit. I'll buy a small messenger bag, buy a little sketch book in it, and SKETCH DAMMIT. Also, if I do more than one art per week, poof extra credit! Note that I made the grading a little easier: I'm gonna be the only person in the trip who can (kinda) speak the language so I'm gonna be stressed out. Thus I wanted to be easier on myself with this so I can enjoy my trip. Tracking: I have an art Tumblr and I also have a DeviantArt (anyone on there?! WATCH ME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY). I'll use those for tracking and on a weekly basis...like a weekly update or something, I'll post art on this thread. Grading: A for one art 5 to 6 weeks ( 2 Wis 1 Cha ) B for one art 4 weeks ( 2 Wis ) C for one art 3 weeks ( 1 Wis ) F for all else That is what I have planned! I shall conquer this challenge and LEVEL UP! And so...it begins.

Ahoy, ye brave n' bonny lasses! Are ye a Level One Rebel who seeks adventure n' fun on the high seas? Piratical adventures, in particular? Then sign on as an Apprentice seawoman Aboard the Queen O' Swords An' learn the Merrie, Piratical Ways o' the CutLasses! This accountabilibuddy group is open to any Level One lass who wants to encourage other Level One rebels. Sign up here teh come aboard the "Queen O' Swords." Grab a mug o' rum an' post below teh introduce yerself teh the rest o' the lasses. Be sure teh include yer challenge thread link in yer post, if'n ye want teh have the encouragement o' yer shipmates!

Hello, all! I'd been posting over in Level 1, and then Starsapart helpfully informed me of this forum, too! My personal quest for this challenge: My major goal is get into a size 12, comfortably. My quests: 1, Do a body strength circuit workout 3x/week. 2, No more sugar! (fruit is ok, and I'm going to start out allowing myself one cheat day/week. I'll judge the cheat day's effect on morale and adjust accordingly.) 3, get hydrated! Drink 2.5 - 3 24oz bottles of water every day. Also, I have several food allergies, of varying intensity, and I tend to cheat on those that aren't so bad. But I know my body would be better off without the constant drain on my immune system, so I will NOT eat anything I know I am allergic to! (You wouldn't think that would be so hard!) I actually started on this plan the Fri before this challenge officially began. The cheat day combined with my overall motivation (None of my pants fit!) has so far been helping with the no sugar, as I tell myself, "you can have that on Friday" or whichever day is the cheat day this week. Cheat day was yesterday (Friday) this week and it actually went really well. I chose Fri for the week because I was going to a music festival and meeting friends for Mexican that night and I wanted a margarita! I held firm on the allergy quest, though - that restaurant fries in peanut oil and I usually cave and have some chips, but not last night! Otherwise it went really well! Started with a bike ride to an art supply fire sale (unfortunately because they'd actually had a fire) and to a plant nursery. Came home, did my scheduled workout and dug in all the plants and had lunch -- 2pm before I even thought about the "cheating" part of my day! Not that I didn't take advantage once I went out! Keeping up with the water drinking, too. I've decided I need to drink 4 bottles on workout days -- because I tend to drink a whole one during/immediately after the workout just to replace the sweat. It still takes a lot of thought. "Drink your water, Jen" Thanks for the community, everyone!

This seemed an incredibly appropriate quote given my focus on strength training. I have found that I was much weaker than I anticipated as a starting point. As a prison drill instructor I could do 300 lunges and 150 pushups in a 45 minute workout with the inmates, but I have found that my bench is a pathetic 80 lbs, and my squat equally disappointing. I realize building endurance and building strength are two different goals. I realize that the weight I am pushing now is the seed, the gains I will make in the future the harvest. So as a 38 year old woman I will sow the seeds daily and see where it takes me. As a fitness buff for quite some time here is the routine I have developed: Four days weight training 2 days upper, two days lower. One day steady state cardio, one day active rest, one day complete rest. Here are the routines: Upper A Lower A Upper B Lower B Bench Press x3 Glute Bridge x3 Shoulder Press x3 Squats x3 6-8 reps 6-8 6-8 6-8 Barbell rows x3 Deadlift x3 Pull up (assisted)x3 Lunges x3 6-8 reps 6-8 6-8 8-10 Incline DB press x3 Single Leg Squat x3 DB Bench x3 Romanian Dead x3 8-10 10-12 8-10 10-12 Lat Pull Down x3 Bulgarian Squatx3 Seated Cable Row x3 Seated Calf Raise x4 8-10 8-10 8-10 10-12 Lateral Raises x2 Back Extensions x3 Lateral Raise x2 Abs x5 10-12 8-10 10-12 8-15 Dips (assisted) x2 Standing Calf Raises x4 Barbell curl x2 10-12 6-8 10-12 DB curl x 2 Abs x5 Cable Tri Ext. x2 10-12 8-15 10-12 All start with a 20 minute warm-up, light jog. All exercises are weighted. When I can exceed the rep goal for the sets, I increase the weight. Steady state cardio day is a light jog for one hour. My eating consists of fat, protein and carbs (in that order) carbs are all vegetables and limited fruits. Feedback is appreciated. I will post my changes in weights used as I progress. This will be my first six week challenge so the official start is April 14, though I am already lifting. I would appreciate feedback for any suggested changes prior to the official start date!

Longtime Reader, first time posting in the challenge! I'm 6'2, 210 lbs as of tonight. I spent all last fall in bed with mono and the spring focusing on work and school, so I’m looking to get back in shape with the down time I’ve got. Run 2 miles nonstop - STA: 3 Make it to the Gym 3x a week - STR: 4 No Soda for six weeks - CON 3 Get down to a healthy 175 lbs. - CHA 5 I want to use this challenge to hold me accountable over the summer. Come fall I’d like to start running 5k’s and I think getting to that 2 mile bar I set is a good start to a long term goal. As for the weight I was 195lbs at the beginning of last summer, most of it was bad weight due to unhealthy eating, so I’m looking to getting leaner by mid-late summer. Hope everything I've set is up to par with our code, if not I'll fix it ASAP!!