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Bouncer eyes the entrance of the dungeon, the stone stairs below her don’t look appealing at all. She could feel her heart drop, as the sunlight seemed to get lost in the entrance. She had heard from many that opportunities for adventurers of any alike could treasure hunt and call for bounties for the many monsters. Bouncer’s druid instinct seemed to wonder though what would happen if she continued her hero story differently, making the many levels of a deep dungeon a home of hers! ---- 2 inspirations while I tried to Unplug... "Delicious in the Dungeon" (Netflix Series)and “Walkscape” (game )aka going cold turkey unplugging didn't work and realize I had some really good inspiration around me. A new perspective on how long a journey is and how fluid/open it is. And what type of games/stories are better for me now. Overall goals for 2024: Have a Thriving Base Camp -Fully Unpack, Organize/Declutter, Hygge, Catification Making Delicious in the Dungeon -To be Upfront Money IS TIGHT with my current home, I have a hard time eating only from home while being busy AND staying frugal. Also realizing to work on some financial goals (paying off student loans, having money for needs, and saving for a few dream trips…). The more creative I can get better. Maintaining Making Gold I’m in a lucky life stage, I HAVE many opportunities to make money. My stamina and executive functioning skills are what shortcuts me. Keep my Mana High and Become a better Druid Meditation, mindfulness, Qigong, Eating nutrient-dense food, stay active. All help me keep my energy up and continue my healing. Life is not at my most difficult, but I am in the part of my life to strengthen skills and habits with tools to become helpful in future stresses. Okay, SMART goals for this challenge! Find Base Camp and Learn what Monsters are Edible Restart FlyLady 31 Baby steps, the goal is to do a Morning/Evening routine daily. To make it a little easier I will only continue on the baby steps when I feel confident to continue on the next step (morning check-in). End goal - have the morning/evening goals be a habit. 85%+ - I find a safe place to set up a camp in the dungeon and has what I need, able to start wandering a little safer. Below 85% I might have a random monster attack to get through to keep going through the dungeon. Struggling to write this in a SMART goal. Meal plan/Prep/Eat; stay under budget. Only go out to eat once. Staying in budget is 100% difficult. So will share my thoughts around it.

Non scale goals for the next 5-6 months: (So I can remember) Be strong and mentally flexible for all the opportunities that jump my way Be strong enough to move into a new apartment, and adopt 2 cats simultaneously (fyi I haven't owned a furry pet in almost 10 year, and any breathing pet in 5+ years). Go to ValleyFair (local Amusement park) with no worries of fitting in rides and keep up with my 6'4 brother (I'm 5'11 but damn last year I had drink an energy drink or 2 just to keep up) This challenge goals: -Start bedtime routine 7/8 pm (I wake up at 5 am... so need the extra time to chill) -"Move the Body" - Workout twice a week, trying to get 15 mins of "meaningful movement" everyday -Balanced Plates /Weekly meal plan: Eat mostly from home with "NF balanced plate" All these goals I realize fall under self care. I also have the "meditation goal" but that right now ties with the bedtime routine. End of the last challenge I found I was having a harder time to go to bed at 7 pm due to the quiet brings up the trauma. I am working with someone on this, but doesn't help that some nights I am just broken. That I'm looking forward to getting cats to help with the loneliness that I've been dealing with. Cats are a bit delayed on owning due to needing to move to an apartment that allows them (the perk is also a bigger apartment for myself).

So I am going over the things that I want to improve upon this year, and it seems I can't just stick with something which is what I really need to improve but I am going to take a new approach and just focus on small fixes. Things I want to improve: 1. Overall Fitness and Health 2. My ability to be ladylike 3. My savings and budget 4. My organization/home This challenge I am going to focus mostly on 1 and 3 with a small bit of two rolled in. This challenge I will not buy any crap on amazon/online, no clothes, no projects, no STUFF. This will help me get my CC's paid down because while I am fine financially I could be better. This challenge I will track my calorie intake and protein with a goal of 1500-1700 calories total and 130 grams of protein daily. If I have a super intense day I can add an extra 200 calories of carbs, but the work must be accounted for as well. *March 7th and 8th are freebie days because hockey game/mini getaway. - This may also change up after 2 weeks if I need to add/subtract based on weight loss and calories burned on average. This challenge I will take a decent walk or hop on my max trainer every single day. I am more than welcome to have other workouts, but I also tend to get super hungry when I train hard and I am trying to stay away from that monster. On Feb 27th I have a "Buns and Braids" class to help with my ladylike goal, once this is complete I will practice what I have learned 3 days a week. It's a bit far into the challenge to be a steady goal but I did want to write it down. Extra Credit: Post 5 things on Poshmark for sale, all proceeds of my sales will go toward CC/Other debt. *will flash this challenge up a bit once I get home and can hunt for gifs *FIXED

Hello, I am a 20 year old girl who has been training in the gym for a year now, i am 5'6", and started weighing 71,5kg as a i came back for a 1 year vacation. I currently weight 63kg, have a muscle mass of 45,8 and a Body fat percentage of 23% (last time i weight myself, but I know is approximate so i would say im around 25%). I go to the gym 4 times a week, 2 days upper body, 2 days lower body, 25min of cardio all those 4 days. I have three dogs so i keep myself active also after the gym. About my diet, is something i was very aware of at the beginning but not so much now: BREAKFAST: 1/2 lemon with 400ml of water, and a garlic suplement pill. LUNCH: tomato and spinach sald, with seeds and nuts, and olive oil, (small, like a quarter of tomato, one tea spoon on seed and nuts and 100gr of spinach) + main dish (can be mashed vegetables, soup, pasta with tomato, quinoa with tomato...) + 1/2 pieces of fruit MID-ADTERNOON: 1 banana, and 1 homemade chocolate cupcake (since 1 week) NIGHT: hazelnut yogurt, with natural hazelnuts, almonds, and granola, also some chocolate chips, blueberries and half a banana. i am not vegan but i try to maintain all my meals animal-free. About my diet, i know i have to do this following things, but in would love any other suggestion: no more chocolate cupcake, avoid the pasta in the lunch period, instead more vegetables and proteins, (what vegan protein preferible so you recommend me to add to my lunches?)

Hello! I am a mom with a toddler that is usually sitting on me, hanging off me, having me read books out loud, or trying to pull me down the hall... play breaks are frequent, but short...so I will try to keep up here with my small bites of 2 hand time. I'm also still figuring out how NF works and fits together. So here are my goals for this challenge: Eat & drink healthier: - Eat only AIP+ when at home, outside I can have non-AIP snacks but not anything sweet. - Come up with a batch cooking meal plan for each week with 4 meals, 2 days of cooking. Stronger: - See a trainer at the Y once a week before (probably) quitting--or other significant exercise once a week. Ship shape mom life: - Strictly follow toddler meal schedule, after putting it up for spouse. Okay, Mister is giving me looks, so I am done!

Hi, I'm still new to the druids. I posted one challenge as a druid, and I wasn't successful. I'm returning again. Trying hard to be successful, so I'm keeping it simple. I have one goal for this challenge and it is to be true to my meal plan for 5 out of 7 days of the week. Ideally this will be seven days. That is my hope. I know its not much, but I need success more than I need lofty goals right now. I struggle with depression and things have been very hard recently. That's why I need to be successful. Hoping for some encouragement.

Jonesy’s Oh, Bother Last challenge was a struggle to find the determination to follow through with my goals. This challenge I'm going to keep it simple. Me, keep things simple, yeah ok but I’m gonna try real hard. At least for the challenge. Haha Fitness : Workout 12 times Health : Meal Plan each week & eat at home at least 15 times Life : Make a reasonable to do list and accomplish at least 4 items Keep it Simple!

When I hear CLEANSE, my immediate thoughts go to: Miserable and back to your old habits (and size) once you stop drinking carrot juice and start eating real food again. So when one of my best friends asked if I wanted to do a cleanse with her I was not interested at all until she sent me the info. This isn't a cleanse, it's a supplement enhanced jumpstart to a lifestyle change! And isn't that what I'm here for? I'm going to spare you the details (which sounds like a sales pitch) and I am in no way affiliated with the company. But I did a bunch of research about the supplements & vitamins, the ingredients, took it to a friend who's 100% organic and he even gave me the green light, blah blah blah... Basically, I'm going to take the magic mushroom and use it to defeat Bowser. This leads me to this month's challenge: Follow my Challenge Meal Plan. I generally followed the guidelines for the "24 Day Challenge" including the recommended times for the supplements and generally followed paleo throughout. I tried to plan varied meals and am going to cook for leftovers because the amount of cooking that I'll be doing is crazy and the amount of food consumed total will be much more than I'm used to (in frequency, not in portions). Water will be my friend. I'm going to be drinking over a gallon a day so I've started preparing for that early. I scheduled my meals and snacks around my work hours and my classes, that will be starting, so I will be setting myself up for success. Workout 5 days a week. Workout Spreadsheet Walk for 30 minutes twice a week. Bodyweight circuits three times a week with mixed cardio. Read 30+ minutes a day Textbooks (since I'm starting school again) Fun books (currently the Atlantis Plague, next Dresden Files book 4) Any of the other books I have lying around

Last year I decided I was going to pick up and move north to live next door to two of my favorite nerds, which meant picking up my life and moving to Madison. I moved at the very end of last year, and then 3 weeks later went on vacation to Australia and New Zealand, just getting back a few weeks ago. Thus, I have been pretty absent on the forum and challenges, and since I have #warriorgoals and #scoutgoals, here I am! I have a tendency of petering out after week two, so this challenge is going to be super simple. Epic Goal #1: Run the Hot Chocolate 15k in October with @Haikoo If there's one example of my going MAD, it's this. I'm really a warrior; I hate cardio. But, I somehow managed to sign up for this quest because the medal is SO COOL. But first, I need to be able to run a 5k. Challenge goal #1: Do couch to 5k program 2 days a week. (Ideally this would be 3, but life happens, so I'm going to make this achievable.) Epic Goal #2: Snatch 30kg and/or Clean & Jerk 40 kg I have found the most amazing gym in Crossfit MADtown. They have a 3 class a week Oly program, and despite being a Crossfit gym, ALL the plates are in kg. Their site even says they are a weightlifting gym with a crossfit problem. YAY. Challenge goal #2: Go to Oly class 2 hours a week. (Ideally this would be 4, but life happens, so I'm going to make this achievable as well) Food Goal: Get the adult to run the show, and not the inner 9 year old child Let's be honest. Running a 15K (or even wogging it) will be so much easier if I drop the fluff. Hitting a BW clean & jerk will also be easier if I have less fluff. However, my inner child doesn't think that far ahead; she thinks OMG GIRL SCOUT COOKIES MUST EAT ALL OF THEM. Challenge goal #3a: Eat Primal for 14 meals out of the week (again, let's keep it simple) Challenge goal #3b: Whenever I have a craving, ask myself: "If one of the nerdlets asked for this, what would I say?" and then DO THAT THING. Or, "Is this really going to be me to my goals? Do we want to end up like mom? What do you REALLY want?" And then do those things. Life Goal: Adulting. There's a lot of other things I need to do, so I'm just going to make a short list: Excavate my basement so I can have the girls over for my birthdayGet WI license and license plateResume bullet journalingmore to come...And thus my CRAZY MAD WHAT THIS MIGHT BE ACHIEVABLE challenge has begun. If you are intrigued and wish to follow this thread, please respond with a GIF below! I love GIFs!

Hey rebels! I have a question for you. I'm currently writing an ebook with the name "Cavemen in College". Basically, it will be a guide to all students at university on how to remain Paleo. This includes: - The basics of Paleo, what it is and why people do it - My story, how and why I became Paleo and how this book was established - How to make Paleo cheaper than a "normal" college diet - How to combine studying with an active lifestyle (sports etc, inherently a part of Paleo imo) - Tips for going out, social events,... - Meal planning and templates - Tips & Tricks (for example: Handy kitchen appliances,..) - A big collection of recipes divided in the categories: 1. Spice mixes and dressings 2. 5-minute hearty meals 3. paleo comfort foods 4. make-in-advance meals 5. packed lunches 6. sweet treats Of course, things may still change My question is now: Do you see this as a good initiative? Something that was missing? Would you consider purchasing it? Any feedback is moooore than appreciated! Have a good one rebels, rock on

GREETINGS, FELLOW REBELS. Is everyone else as excited to get this challenge going as I am?! LET'S PAR-TAAAY. Background I'm Zho. 26, female, 4'11", 136 pounds as of this morning -- my lowest weight in 10+ years. Torn between classes -- perhaps assassin, or ranger? My fitness goals can be summed up as something between "functional strength and movement for everyday life or emergencies" and "do cool stuff." (Oh, I forgot "look freakin' amazing." That's in there too.) I want to be able to lift heavy things for my day job, flee from an attacker if I have to, do a pull-up, hold handstands, etc. I really like parkour and Ninja Warrior stuff, but I won't be getting into that until later this year, probably. I also challenged my sister to a virtual 5k in April, but I have no idea why because I have zero openings to actually train right now. I'd probably never progress beyond a 5k; I'd rather get faster than go farther (further?). So, yeah. I'm all over the place. Anyway... let's move along, shall we? I was going to save the Zelda theme for another challenge, but I just can't help myself. It's my thing. Zho Tests Her Courage 1. FIND A SWORD & SHIELD. Strength training, at least three times a week. This challenge will cover weeks 2-5 of the beginner strong curves program. A = 3x/week | B = 2x/week | C = 1x/week 2. BE BRAVE. TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND. Practice handstands at least three times a week. 20 minutes of training each; this includes rest time. A = 12 sessions | B = 9 sessions | C = 6 sessions 3. LISTEN TO YOUR FAIRY. Maintain and follow my weekly meal plans. This one comes with a LOT of variables and mistakes (I've only just started weekly meal planning), so success hinges on if we pick up fast food for dinner (unplanned), or if I clearly overeat that day. A = 4 (or less) bad days | B = 7 bad days | C = 8+ bad days 4. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. Fun life goal! Post a daily drawing in this thread. It doesn't have to be on time or drawn that same day, it just needs to be one fairly clean or finished drawing for every day of the challenge. A = 22+ days | B = 18+ days | C = 13+ days Rewards My 4-week reward is one shirt based off the theme of my next challenge. Here's what I'm currently considering: One, two, three, four. I might do a two-week reward of $10 towards more equipment, like ankle weights and socks. ;)

Hi Everyone You won't have seen me around the challenge boards for a while. My life gets very insane during the middle of soccer season. Plus I go into winter hibernation and have no desire to do anything beyond my normal routine. The other things is that most of my goals become about not conceding goals and winning game which is very much out of my control and are therefore hard to stick to and very depressing when I'm being strict with myself. (I'll put some background at the bottom of this post) I've managed to keep up my soccer training (with a bit of time out for a cold; managed not to miss a single game); and I did join a gym and have been pretty consistent with going at least 2-3 times a week (apart from during the aforementioned cold). So I'm back (a little late because I forgot to check the timings) to try for some non-exercise related health goals and one continuous life goal witha couple of small ones tacked on Health With this challenge my fitness commitments are pretty much set so I will be focussing on the things in my life I need to fix to make those show more (food; organisation; cleanliness). I will be aiming to have a giant cook up this weekend that should give me 2-3 weeks worth of pre-cooked mains (assuming that 2 days a week I will have some time to cook) and I will either cook some frozen veges or make a salad to supplement this. I'm not aiming for specific food groups or amounts of carbs/fat/protein; rather more of the good stuff. I moved back home for about 6 months when I was about 20/21 and eating all the good food my parents and I were cooking for 3 of us and I noticed I did lose a bit of weight with no exercise (it would have been better if I wasn't eating junk at work even when I worked with them). Now I'm noticing a real difference with the amount of exercise I do so I think trying to get back to that diet would be great. I'm also really disorganised around the house for a number of reasons. Partly because My house is small and gets cluttered easily; partly because I'm so busy I don't always have the time; mostly because I'm just disorganised. So I will be focussed on spending weekends throughout this challenge decluttering and cleaning out of each area of my house (Kitchen; Bedroom; Bathroom; Study area; Living Area). I have a one bedroom apartment so there is significant overlap between the areas so what happens is I clean one and just move the clutter to the other part of the area. That cleaning is the big part; but I also need to focus on daily routine (including the cleaning part). I will focus on Opening the curtains; making my bed; remembering to take medications/vitamins; having enough time to do things like hair and make up rather than throwing on a beanie and some moisturiser (remembering to brush my teeth before I go to work; I usually do it there); hanging my towels and stuff; having breakfast/pre training snack as a morning routine; taking my lunch/snacks for work. As an evening routine I want to focus on: sorting my clothes into needs to be washed and has another more wear in it; making sure I have food for tomorrow and that all the dishes are washed and in the drying rack; that all the mail is sorted into things I need or into the bin. I also need the weekly tasks; doing my washing and putting it away; taking out the rubbish and (mainly) recycling on a regular basis; cleaning floors. The one extra fitness thing I want to focus on is getting my step count up. Due to the fact the in the gym I mostly focus on weights and in soccer training/games I don't run that much because I focus on the stopping of goals rather than the scoring of them; my step count drops off. this time last year I was consistently doing arounf 15k a day but some days barely scrape 10k this year. So I want to focus for this challenge on meeting my goal of 13k 6/7 days (the one day off is because on game day I don't want to do too much extra stuff and if I pull my sleeves up because its hot I have to take my fitbit off because it counts at jewelery; if I have them down the refs can't see and I am allowed to wear it). I will have home cooked meals for 4/5 workdays and 1/2 weekend days and not consume the processed 'bad foods' on those days. I will not order takeaway because I am bored or lazy. I will declutter and clean all areas of my apartment over the weekends in the challenge so that my apartment is more manageable I will complete my morning and evening routines 6/7 days a week. And all the weekly tasks in timely manner. Reach step goal of 13k steps 6/7 days a week Life I have a consistent problem with saving. I focus a lot on the big purchases I need to make/comit myself too and completely forget about my day to day purchases. I have a number of big expenses coming up in the next 2-3 months but I also really need to save so I will be focusing on cutting down my food budget (because I spend too much on junk food) I want to spend no more than $150 a week on food with a + $30 if its also sort of entertainment like going to the pub with a friend and getting a meal there. I know this weekend I will likely spend more because I will be trying to cook for 3 weeks. But the next week will be less because I will be eating from the freezer a lot so it will average out. (I will also be spending a few days visting my parents at their beach house in week so no food spending but I will need to spend some on a cab home from the airport). I also want to make no purchases beyond the ones I have planned over this challenge (beyond the obvious food ones). I have a big event I am going to in early Sept and I would like to be able to be a little more girly and have nice nails - which means I have to stop biting them in the next 6 weeks. My current plan for that is to make sure they're painted. Keep within my food budget No unplanned purchases Stop biting nails. Some background about my soccer team is that we cannot get off the bottom of the ladder. Even though I have greatly improved - we have a new coach that thought it might be a good idea to teach the goal keeper (who was making it up a she[me] went along what the basics were. As a result I have developed a certain style which works really well with out defence and with my personality. Our defence has gotten really awesome and I work really well with them - our problem is now that we can't score and lose the ball far to often at the halfway point and the defenders and I get run ragged and our opposition get too many shots on goal. They shoot enough and they're going to score. I have some definite areas I personally need to work on (such as my vertical jump) that I can work on in the offseason that will be help. But honestly we're in the lowest division - no one should expect me to be able to save top of the pocket goals and nor should there we this many teams in our division that consitently score there. Anyway that's my challenge; feedback welcome. I'm halfway through this week and most of my goals aren't going well right now apart from my steps but I'm using the weekend where I am mostly free to get my house and fridge ready for it.

Hello! I can ramble sometimes, so I'll try to get right to the point here: my boyfriend and I are about to start the whole babymaking thing, and I want to be as healthy as possible in order to provide a good environment for our potential future human. I'm not particularly unhealthy at the moment, but I could certainly stand to lose some weight and eat a bit better, and I've been slacking on exercise lately. [Disclaimer: I'm sure you all get it, but just in case, please don't be offended by my calling babies-to-be parasites. I mean, they *do* live off their mothers' life forces...but they're adorable, so I'm okay with it.] Quest 1 Get in at least 30 minutes of movement every day. Ideally this will break down to 3 days of running, 2 days of walking, and 2 days of yoga, but for now the important thing is actually getting off my butt and preferably getting out of the house. (I work at home, so it's easy to This is really for each day, so if I do one hour one day, that doesn't matter - I still need to get 30 minutes in the next day. It's also pretty much all or nothing, because I'n not likely to go outside for just 15 minutes, anyway. By the time I get out there, I might as well stick it out for the full 30 minutes. So the grading for each day is as follows: 30 minutes: A for the day < 30 minutes: F for the day Quest 2 Make a weekly meal plan and shop/prep on the weekend. I know a lot of my questionable food choices are because of not having enough healthy food at home and/or not wanting to cook every day. Planning and prepping ahead of time should help me eat better. If I make some kind of breakfast dish and soup on the weekend, then my breakfast and lunch should be pretty much set for the week, for example. I'd like to shoot for at least semi slow carb, particularly for breakfast and lunch, but will not be strict about it for dinner, especially because my boyfriend does a lot of the cooking and isn't very interested in the idea. (Starting next week, since I'm a bit late, but I'll try to do a partial meal plan this week, anyway.) accomplished: A for the week not accomplished: F for the week Quest 3 Eat at least 3 vegetables (preferably 3 different ones, but it's not required) and 1 fruit per day. Green leafy vegetables are especially good! This quest relies quite a bit on the previous one. 3 v + 1 f: A for the day 2 v + 1 f: B for the day 2 v: C for the day 1 v: D for the day anything else (including 0 v + 1 f): F for the day Life quest All my friends and family are sick of me talking about how I need to finish my master's thesis. I'm close enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm finding it hard to just sit down and deal with it and have been procrastinating far too much. My goal is at least 3 hours of truly thesis-focused work each weekday, which might sound like a lot, but this is really hanging over me and I also don't have a lot of actual work right now because I haven't been actively looking for clients while in school. I need to finish this so I can get the weight off my shoulders and have time to get more freelancing work and/or look for a full-time job (the future human is also a big motivator for that). I absolutely want to be DONE with my thesis by the time this callenge ends, and I really think that's doable as long as I put in the work. 3 hours: A for the day 2 hours: B for the day 1 hour: D for the day < 1 hour: F for the day each 1 hour on a weekend day: bonus points (still have to figure out exactly how to calculate those in to the final score) Okay! Let's do this!

(TL;DR in second post) Previously on Apfelstrudi’s journey: I set out to become the very best. Like no one ever was. I got 4 pokémon from Professor Oak, kicked Gary in the nuts, and set out to defeat Brock. On my way, I encountered lots of trainers and wild pokemon that challenged me every 5 steps. And they helped me level up so I could win the boss battle. But what’s even better: They showed me what I’m passionate about, and made my path forwards much, much clearer. Once Brock had been defeated, I continued wandering, once again being challenged, but now I had a deathly weapon with me, even deathlier than my pokemon: My hoop. It worked better than repel, better than strength and cut together. It made my way easier and much more entertaining, and showed me what to focus on. But now I face a new battle, and I must use what I’ve learned, and become a better trainer and hooper, in order to defeat Misty and not become Misty-fied. Let’s start this off by looking at the dictionary: In other words: Misty is a minx. Now that I know what to focus on, Misty the little punk will certainly try to lead me astray. And she’ll have an easy job, too! Not only does she have boobs, she also has junior trainers in speedos surrounding her! How is that fair? I must focus on happiness, but not the kind of happiness that speedos bring. Instead, I’ll concentrate on something that brings me even more happiness: My hula hoops. As I said in the recap - I want to be the very best. And now I’ve finally found something that I feel like I can progress steadily, with lots of effort, but not effort that leaves me frustrated and demotivated. To be the very best hooper, there are many things I must work on. Main Goal: Become the very best! - Defeat Misty Battle 1: Horsea HP Horsea: 50 HP Pikachu: 50 Defeating Horsea will be relatively simple. Hoop it up! 5 times a week. Can be anything from 5 minute waist-hooping to skill-work to hoop-workouts to stretches. But the hoop must be used. Every time I hoop, I’ll take 1 HP off Horsea. Working on a new skill every week gives me an added bonus of 5 HP off. If I don’t work on a skill, those 5 HP will be taken away from my Pikachu. If I don’t defeat Horsea within 5 weeks (to allow for fail), I can either use the 6th week normally, or go into boss battle mode. (stop being cute, you're gonna die D: ) Battle 2: Shellder HP Shellder: 50 HP Charmander: 50 In order to defeat Shellder, my weakest Pokémon must come forth. Fire against water usually doesn’t end well for fire, but I can’t let that happen to my poor Charmander. On my way to become the very best, I must do things that aren’t directly related to hooping, but that offer assistance. This can be anything. I must do 5 of those things a week. Each workout (using the term loosely) will take 1 HP off Shellder. An additional HP can be taken off for reflecting and naming how I’m helping my hooping by doing said workout. Example: Chest/shoulder openers - help prepare chest/shoulder hooping. If I don’t manage to defeat in the first 5 weeks, I can use the sixth or go into boss battle mode. Battle 3: Goldeen HP Goldeen: 50 HP Squirtle: 50 Pikachu needs to adhere to a schedule in order to defeat Goldeen! Because the only way to get past her is to dance. But not just any dance! A different dance must be tried every week. This includes listening to fitting music, watching videos of pros dancing, and doing a tutorial. All this tied together will take 10 HP off Goldeen. If I do more than one tutorial, or do some freestyle dance in the “style of the weekâ€, it counts towards Charmander’s battle against Shellder. If I don’t manage to defeat in the first 5 weeks, I can use the sixth or go into boss battle mode. Dance styles: (don't want that happening!) Battle 4: Staryu (diet quest) HP Staryu: 50 HP Bulbasaur: 50 Bulbasaur likes his food - and he’s gotten quite chubby lately. So he must plan his meals better, in order to stay away from evil foods. One meal plan a week = 10 HP off Staryu. If I stray from the meal plan, that’s 1 HP off Bulbasaur per day that had wrong food. If I don’t manage to defeat in the first 5 weeks, I can use the sixth or go into boss battle mode. Battle 5: Starmie (life quest) HP Starmie: 50 HP Magikarp: 50 That’s right. I’ve caught myself the lamest pokemon ever. But in this case, it’ll be worth it. Because I’ll fight those boobs and speedos with my own boobs and speedos - kinda! In order to feel better about dancing, hooping in front of the camera, and general movement, I must feel better about the way I look. They’re trying to divert me with their beauty? I’ll find a way to use mine. I recently (at the end of last challenge) started a new skin care regime. My skin has never been exactly great, but it's starting to annoy me like crazy. So when I read this article about Asian actresses and their masterful skin care, I decided to just give it a try, even though I haaaate spending lots of time in the bathroom. Ah well - if done properly it's like 5 more minutes a day. What I'm doing shall be in the third post to counter information-overload. I want to stick with it a minimum of 5 days a week. Each day gives me 1 HP off Starmie. Additionally, every week, I have to do something that makes me feel pretty. It doesn’t matter what it is, but can’t be something as simple as ‘take a shower’, obviously. For every project, I take 5 HP off Starmie. If I don’t manage to defeat in the first 5 weeks, I can use the sixth or go into boss battle mode. Week 6 / Boss Battle / Evolving I’ve specifically assigned points so that I can have a successful challenge even if I don’t do every single workout, every single day and week. If all goes perfectly, I can defeat pokémon in 5 weeks. If not, I can continue normally in week 6. OR I can do a boss battle. A boss battle will be done in case I’ve failed miserably and need more points than I can possibly gain through normal battle. I will only determine what a boss battle is if necessary though. If by the end of week 6, I’ve not defeated a pokémon, I can use up the remaining HP of my pokémon. Example: End of challenge stats Battle 1: HP Horsea: 10 HP Squirtle: 40 -> Horsea: 0; Squirtle: 30 If I manage to keep my pokémon’s HP at 25 or above, they will evolve. Which would be particularly important for Magikarp, obviously.

I am making small changes to my diet in an attempt to eat healthier. Less sweets, more fruit & veg - that type of thing. This challenge, I'm trying to experiment with a weekly meal plan before going to buy my groceries. Only thing is - it's not working at all. Yeah I end up eating all the food I buy eventually. I just never actually follow the meal plan past a day or 2. I'm finishing up my last year of college and don't have the motivation to cook every day. I was making 1-2 batch meals that could carry me through each week but fell out of practice when life got busy. I am looking into picking this up again but wonder - is it bad to spend a few days eating the same thing? Obviously I would eventually get bored always eating the same exact thing, but would I be suffering nutritionally by not mixing up the meals every day? Example Meal Plan: Breakfast: 1/2 c oatmeal, banana, peanut butter Lunch: 2 eggs w/ kale, peppers, onions, and/or bacon Snack: Apple or carrot sticks, etc Dinner: Chicken breast w/ sweet potato, broccoli & cauliflower

How's that for motivation? But I see your one week, and I raise you...six. MAIN QUEST: DROP FAT*. KEEP MUSCLE. *OBVIOUSLY NOT ALL OF IT, SINCE SOME IS REQUIRED TO, YOU KNOW, STAY ALIVE Hey NF peeps! Ems Challenge Number 4 is here! The new rule changes came at the perfect time for me, as I was feeling a little burnt out and disillusioned by the end of my last challenge. I tried to do too many things at once during a very hectic work schedule, resulting in a lot of things done fairly badly. Well, no more! This challenge is going to be very focused on one goal - reduce body fat percentage. Thanks to almost a lifetime of ballet (incredible bodyweight workout if there ever was one!), contemporary dance and more recently weight training (including the TRX - amazing bit of equipment!) I have a good amount of solid, sexy, strong muscle going on, which I LOVE. The guns and the quads are particularly pleasing (never thought I'd type that about myself!) Anyway, as good as all that is, there is still too much fat covering said muscles. Yes, it's true, not as much as before as I'm down from 32% in January 2013 to 29.7 now. However, there is still more to go. I'd like to get to 20% and see how my performance levels are affected. I'm not willing to sacrifice shaving a few seconds more off my rowing times in order to get into the teens, but we'll see how it goes. Counting eggs and chickens and all that... THAT'S THE WHAT, HERE'S THE HOW: #1. Hey girl, track the intake for two weeks. Recently I had a chat with my personal trainer, and he asked me what I wanted out of the next stage of my training. The physical side has been going very well, I'm absolutely loving it, but what I feel needs attention, and what I feel ready to commit to, is my diet. Up until this point it has been ok, the first stage over my last two challenges was cutting out the junk food (crisps, ice cream, biscuits, chocolate, cake, takeaways, sweets, alcohol - all the obvious stuff). I feel like I've got this sorted now, so it's time for phase 2. Following this chat, my PT said he would create a meal plan for me, inspired by Paleo (he knows what it is - yey! It sounds weird, but I still find it surprising when non NF peeps know about it, like it's a big secret, which of course it isn't!). What I need to do first though as per his instructions, is log all my food, drink, approx. times, sleep and physical activity levels and intensity for two weeks so he can see where I'm at now. As I type this I am currently at the end of the third day. So far so good. I am fairly used to logging foods, having done it for my Battle Log, but the drinks and times are new to me. #2. Hey girl, follow the PT food plan. Please. This will obviously be a little way in the future, after the two week tracking and however long it takes to put the plan together. After that, it is a simple step: follow the plan. Whatever you say Ryan. I would like to point out, just to spare any confusion, that Ryan Gosling isn't my PT. Sadly. I just find him rather motivational. If you've made it this far down my thread, you may have noticed a bit of a theme... EDIT: Just got my plan (14.08.13), so will now add in grades. 26 days of the challenge remain, so I'm going to do it by days where I followed the plan (and I mean followed strictly ALL DAY, no excuses or substitutions): A - 26-21 days followed, B- 20-15 days followed, C - 15-10 days followed, F - 10 or fewer. It may seem harsh, but I have no excuse for not following the plan, it is perfectly manageable, some things on it I do already anyway. #3 Hey girl. Let's stay physical. I have a very physical job, which is brilliant for helping to keep me in shape, and I also attend classes for my own development, as well as my PT and solo gym sessions. Classes have now finished for the summer, and I am soon to go on my month long annual break. This is great timing as it means I have more time to train, more time to take care of myself, but it does also mean that I'll have to be a little more self-motivated, as I won't have as much exercise built into my days. This means, a minimum of three gym sessions per week (a combination of solo and PT). This challenge will also overlap the first couple sessions of my Learn to Row course (YYYYYYYEEEEEEESSSSS!) so that will be something else to get my body moving. A - 3 sessions per week, B - 2, C - 1, F - 0. Ok folks, I'm not going to go down the side or life quests for this one, going to learn from last time and keep it real simple. MOTIVATION* *(NO, IT'S NOT RYAN. WELL MAYBE A LITTLE BIT). My motivation is simple - I want this now. It sounds crazy, but I can remember when part of me really didn't want to lose weight. Not because I didn't want to do what was necessary, although that was a part, but because I was scared what would happen if I did. I wouldn't be the same person. My body wouldn't look the same. What if I became skinny, and I still had problems? What then? If losing weight didn't solve everything else that was wrong, what would I do? I can't believe it now, but I was genuinely scared of the outcome. That was the old Emily. Now I'm just excited to see how far I can go. I love the way my body looks now, but more than that I love what it can do! It can: Do the splits, deadlift 61kg, row 2k in 8:13, hold a plank for over 2 minutes, do a pirouette, get to over 200 RPM on the spin bike, touch my head to my knees with straight legs, do a backward roll, do a forward roll, as well as a cartwheel, row 100m in 18.8 seconds, get its foot behind my head, do a double pirouette as well as a million other things. And there's no limit to this list! It is time for me to level up. Now I've shrugged off the fear, I'm ready. I will Ryan. I promise. Ok folks, that's all for now. I will update tomorrow with score measurements and attribute points, but its really late now here and I need to go to bed. Peace out fit sexy nerds! Ems