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Lighten-ing Strikes This challenge is about adopting NothingWhatsoever as a Way of being, about looking at my possessions and entanglements and making surgical cuts to let go of what doesn't actively heal me. Typical decluttering has me looking at what to get rid of; lighten-ing has me justifying anything I decide to keep, from forks to gym memberships, jobs and relationships. Top of the list are the Super Scary Storage Units. I have no idea what's in those boxes. Step one is to divide a space out for keeps even if I leave it in storage, and designate a section for donate for anything already sorted and not in the keep area. I mean really. I don't need anything in there except my birth certificate, a signed copy of a book by a friend, a notebook of my novel, and maybe that stash of amazing olive oil from a grove in southeastern Italy. Even the books for my dissertation are optional. Once I get enough stuff in the donation area, I can get help hauling it away. The storage units are on the other end of town and it feels like a Dreaded Quest to even think about going. I'm avoidant in the extreme about this. So, time in small chunks will be a dramatic improvement. Also on the list are any and all bills. I haven't used my gym membership. I can either use it or scrap it. We'll see how often I actually leave the house once the paper is done. A thorough inventory of what I'm signed up for (seriously? I was paying for a subscription to chess.com? I don't even remember that.) and then an evaluation of the list. Sounds simple when I put it like that, doesn't it? NothingWhatsoever. I have a habit of signing up for everything that sounds great. And everything sounds great. I need less to do in my life as I heal from burnout, heal from injury, and heal from trauma. No new things, and a lightening of existing projects and commitments. I've already decided to take the summer off from classes, and this first week I resigned from an editing position. The disentanglement of that will take another week or so, mostly in the form of having them tell me who to send my work to and crafting a letter to my series editor and authors for a smooth (ish) handoff. There's an annual Writing Workshop that I usually attend that has a powerful magic for me. It's meeting virtually again this year (June 13-19, so zero week of next challenge). I'm not committing to going yet, even though it's only a month away. I have a feeling that a lot will be revealed during the eclipses (lunar May 26 and solar June 10). I'd like to make no new commitments until after that. The elephant in the room is my relationship with my daughter. Nothing makes sense right now on this front, and it hasn't in years. At this point, if I'm being honest, my relationship with my daughter is a past thing. To have a relationship now would be to start something new. Her dad is clearly, violently opposed. I'm not certain I'm willing to take on a fight just to say I can. It certainly wouldn't be a relationship with my daughter, so what's the value? I have two farm workdays scheduled, May 22 and June 5, at the farm that grows my food for the season (May-December). I like that these come right after the paper delivery and right after court. Hoeing onions or weighing lettuce are the perfect tasks for resetting my spirit and listening for inspiration. Even so, the weight of commitment is noticeable. I know there will be a million opportunities to sign up to help. I need to limit myself to these two. If I want more farm time, I can go to the garden up the mountain, my spiritual home.

Hi! I’m Ingagr and once again at respawn point (ouch!) I got back to practicing taekwondo in july 2020, started caring for my meals (again, once again) by the start of january 2021 and now I believe am ready to get back to the Rebellion. My goals for this challenge are: 1) Weight loss: 7,5 kg. To achieve this I will focus on caring about my meals, performing 2-3 NF begginers bodyweight training per week, going to bed not so late and practicing taekwondo 2-3 per week. 2) Learn/Practice Taekwondo’s 5th form: Taeguk O Jang. I will attempt to practice it daily, adding moves. 3) Throw away stuff I don’t need, 1 per day, everyday: This goal explains by itself, everyday a useless to me thing must leave my house. Thanks to all for the support, I will be reporting here almost daily. See you! SUMMARY Week 0: Weight 129,1kg. 5th Form to learn and practice. Lot of stuff to get rid of. Week 1: Weight 127,8kg. 5th Form being learned and practiced. Lot of stuff left my house. Great week! Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5:

First off: *g8ggle gif* Ahem. Now that we’ve got that out of the way .... It looks like #lockdownlightlife is not evaporating where I live any time soon. Things are mostly back to normal - with a few exceptions. Masks, temperature checks and green status health apps are required everywhere but running outdoors Restaurants are still limited to parties of 5; with varying capacity Gyms are strictly limited to something like 3m of space around each goer Entrance to the country - even for residents - is highly limited and is a dodgy proposition at best, with strict quarantine protocols upon re-entry for those lucky enough to gain permission to enter. It’s a far from guaranteed thing. I’m sure there are more things, but those are the ones that affect me directly I’m still fairing pretty well with things as they are. It looks like this challenge will encapsulate Thanksgiving - let’s see if I get to do my big to-do for that, or if I’m running packaged plates to friends individually. I’ve promised that hell or high water it’s happening this year. Goals - Of Consistency, no less Nutrition. Continue on the trajectory from last challenge by: Not eating like an asshole (meaning not eating things I know are going to cause me pain or too damn much or all junk in a day) Keeping a loose eye on my macros on a weekly level and seeing how closely they resemble My Fitness Pal’s gentle weight loss guidelines by tracking my food daily with an eye toward accuracy but not Nazi-ism Making sure to eat at least 2 servings of vegetables a day even if I don’t wanna Try to get enough water. What’s enough? An amount so I don’t wake up dehydrated feeling Movement. Continue on my 4 - 5x a week yoga schedule via Zoom or in-person if desirable/available; add in some sort of accessory work on Saturdays. Either a 5th yoga class or something in the gym in my building - even if that’s just treadmill & a podcast Social Habits. Continue on with my Zoom Tuesday Coffee with friends for as long as that lasts; continue supporting my Herd as daily as possible; continue trying to expand my social network through this new D&D group; try to interact with other humans in the world at least once a week Stoke That Creative Flame. Keep my running crafts going. Currently, I’m still into clothes sewing and embroidery. Keep that up. Maybe add other things in as they catch my fancy - but, and this is a biggie: use up the supplies I have on hand before delving into a new thing that requires a bunch of specialty tools. Yeah. I know. This is the bane of all handicrafts peoples. And I used to have bins and bins of supplies from all the different things I’ve done over the years - but I don’t have that here, and to re-build that level of stash is ridiculous. I also don’t have storage space for that shit. So: use what you’ve got and then move on Also tied to #4: Exercise Your Brain. I’ve got a year of Skillshare, and while that’s not learning on the level I feel comfortable with, bite sized info is fine. And it’s better than the plague of listicles that has taken the rest of the godsdamn Internet over. Pick a “class”, complete it, take with it what I can, move on. Not every instance of learning needs structure or metrics. Or papers. Certainly not dissertations. And I almost forgot: Get out of my comfort zone. We all know how much I love a photo challenge. I’ve been stagnant in my photography for months and months and wanted to grow my skills. I haaaaaaaate people in my pictures and my selfies are abominable. I’m also never satisfied with my face in them. Which seems like a psychological bear that needs poking. Hell, I bailed on my 365 days of yoga for Year 40 challenge - let’s fuck around with some insecurities. Shake some trees and see what falls. As such, work on improving my people photography game through selfies - and post the best one in a week. Phone or “real” camera, it doesn’t matter. Face in the shot or hidden - whatever. Just create something and get it somewhere decent. Doesn’t have to be magazine worthy. And that’s pretty much it, at least thus far. Not a deviation from previous Cycles, but more a continuation of that solid foundation I’ve built with a look toward at least gathering the supplies for a second level.

This is my third challenge since coming back. I started out being bed bound because of a slipped disc , had surgery and made my way to moving around pain free and with almost no more symptoms of my paralyzed leg and foot. Now I need to get serious about keeping up activity and diet. My two main goals are: 1. lose weight (to help my spine and make me able to move with ease) and get down to 99 kg. Pursuing this goal via keto diet. 2. do PT exercises and get to a point where I can switch to bodyweight training as a form of movement. Also do daily walks with the dog and increasing the distance as a preparation for hiking long distances with my puppy EDIT: just found the walking to Mordor app and my goal is to meet the elves at 65.98km during this challenge. YAY this will be fun! I have lined up a couple of fun side goals like the minimalist game, starting on the 1. In this game I declutter my home from stuff I don't need anymore. On day one its one thing , on day 2 two things and so on until the 31th, where I have to get rid of 31 items. Tell me if you'd like to play with me! Im embarrassed to say that I will also include daily showers as another side goal. Working from home has made me quite lazy. So this needs to change! morning meditation is something else I want to do consistently. I will ad secondary goals each week as I go along. Will use week zero to practice main goal nr. 2 and start with daily showers and morning meditations. Right now I have a friend visiting me and that's what I can do while she is here. She leaves on Saturday which is when I will get back to keto and add the minimalist game..... Ill take it from there. Ive gotten so used to hanging here with you that I missed you guys over the weekend.. Glad to be back!

[Fireworks, Explosions, Team America memes] I mean .... I *did* just crack open my actual computer for the first time in over a month just to edit this shizz, soo ... Happy 10th, Nerd Fitness! It was 10 years ago in March our Rebel Commander started this little corner of the Internets we’ve all found a home in. Let’s celebrate that decade-long accomplishment by branching out, not sitting on our collective laurels, and pushing the envelope just a bit more. I know I call for a return of the Hype Train(TM) often, but dammit, I miss my train. I *miss* the overhype we used to have around here - the breakneck speed at which (6 week) challenges flew, the community engagement ... /getsmistyeyed As so many others are doing, let’s take a look back at my NF journey. Warning: Shit gets mushy and I’m not re-reading it or I’ll start deleting the mush. Could be rambly and make zero sense. I promise nothing. Ooh. I should cop out and spoiler this next bit, but I won't because it's probably cringey and that's how I roll: uncomfortably. Challenge 1 https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/22780-first-challenge-darkfoxx/ My first challenge was in January of 2013, right after I decided I was tired of using the holidays as an excuse to completely feel like a slug every January. I remember being fed up, and sitting in my little bedroom office in Brooklyn - freezing my ass off because that apartment was so cold in the winter it was (barely) legal - and Googling something along the lines of Nerd Fitness. This was right after a chat with my DH (Darling Husband for those of you new to my exposition), where he floated the idea of a support network, I scoffed at it, and went about finding one anyways. He thought I could benefit from having people to talk to about fitness that wasn’t him; I thought that (fitness) realm wasn’t really for me and that everyone would be lame af and we wouldn’t have anything in common. Oh boy was I ever wrong. I remember how I felt when I found that first article Steve wrote - don’t remember what it was, but I remember feeling like someone could finally maybe see me - maybe not with that article, and maybe not him specifically, but it was enough to get my hella introverted IRL (at that point I was basically a hermit and only ever talked to my DH in person) self to feel comfortable putting herself out there - especially in a realm I still found terrifying. My challenge was only 2 goals long, and they are goals that have carried forward in some form for all 63 of my challenges: moving my body and eating right. I was already working out a bit (thanks to the Nintendo Wii, I’d already lost a fair bit of weight), and had sloooooooowly started unpacking all things food and brain related. This first challenge, I focused on 4x a week workouts - alternating the NF bodyweight exercises with my first foray into non-Nintendo yoga: Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown. Which I loved. And would still legit do, no matter how much she annoys me. And paleo. eating paleo consistently, finding ways to cut down my meat consumption, and eating more veg. Sound familiar? Awwww … looking back at this challenge, my first few commenters - whom I will be forever grateful to - have fallen by the wayside (hello @tekilla @vic-torus @bagpipenebula @Slosh - come back!), but my girl @Fonzico was there from page 1, cheering me on. Hey, girl! We were so cute and young! Since then, and here’s where I squirm in my seat because shit gets mushy, I’ve found immeasurable worth in my community. The friendships I’ve formed here have gotten me through some dark shit, and have given me the confidence to do some crazy ambitious shit - like that year I did, what? 16 medal-winning races/rucks/OCRs, or the fact that I smashed my shell to do my first OCR at all and found a huge love for the sport. The SPORT. That the girl who used to practice lying still on a fainting couch - and ate just enough to not land in the hospital - and refused to break a sweat (whose body was only hydrated and nourished enough to barely actually do that) found that she LOVED. And I hella wouldn’t gotten to that place without y’all. I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate carrying on tedious conversations with fitnessy people (even yoga people) IRL, and have like ZERO tolerance for dumbassery; so being able to have a safe home where I can be my F-bomby, snarky, side-eye of judgement self (and where I can totally get called out on my own BS in like 3 seconds), is something I hold SUPER FUCKING DEAR. I loves y’all, and I loves what Steve has built here. So thanks, Steve. Lots. And that’s not all! My first and main love will always be the Forums and I’ll champion them until the Internet dies - to anyone that shows anything other than open hostility to the first three words I say on the subject. Repeatedly. I’ve taken part in NF Yoga, and started down the Rings & Handstands path (mostly because any time the Crew put up a chance to send some lucre their way I was All Frickin On It - because I can’t express how much I’ve gotten out of this free service and want to help in any way possible). And the Facebook groups. And then there were IRL meetups. That were terrifying but awesome and where I met some rad-ass people (hello @Raxie;@rowan I MISS YOUR DAMN FACE COME BACK WE NEED HYPE). AND CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMP. Where I had the privilege of giving back to my community by serving as a Wizard. And meeting so many of my friends in meat space. With actual hugs. And already knowing the actual them. And making new friends. Who I have legit seen IRL. I can’t think about Camp without getting mistily maudlin. That shit was transformative, yo. AND A NERD FITNESS WEDDING TAKEOVER. WEEKEND. @Taaaaaaaaaank @Tanktimus the Encourager what’s this season’s Shiner? And people who know my drama and accept it encouraging me to learn new scary skills (*cough* Ranger Jedi Master @EricMN *cough*). Then lending a shoulder and giving me space through that whole next year of BS and then a difficult move. Internet friends aren’t real friends, my ass. I know a ton of Rangers (and now Druids) - an ENTIRE REBELLION ACTUALLY that would BEG TO DIFFER. And my DH. And half my other friends, TBH. TAKE THAT, OLD (guard) PEOPLE. TAKE THAT, EMPIRE (tho your fashion choices are on point). /END MUSHINESS. EEEWWWWWWWWWW *shake* Errr. Ummmm … #soexposedrn Back to business. And Poiiiiiiiiints. Because: American, and we like points (which is something that fascinates my non-(this type of) nerdy and European friends to no end). This community is only as strong as its members, and as such - I’m laundry-listing this challenge. And remembering to keep all my goals in sight this cycle. Old Business Not eating like an asshole (eating intuitive-ish with a look toward limiting the overall quantity of food I eat while watching the pain level that certain foods create); I will be documenting meals with pics for year 2 of a 365 project, and will be collating a list of current go/no-go foods in an effort to work more veggies back into my diet. I miss veggies. I don’t miss pain. Yoga 365 project - Daily 15 minutes+ of either yoga or meditation/breathing exercises (or as long as I can muster on the latter). I’ll be sharing weekly wrap up pictures here for that as well. Keeping at least 1 current craft going (at the moment, I’m knitting a busywork shawl, knitting a baby blanket, and waiting on the final supplies for a quilt). Pics of course when I finish a project and more information than you want during. Cultivating my current support network and actively recruiting more. This cycle I’ll be experiencing the downside of expat life - friends moving. I’ll be losing at least 3 friends in February/March to the four corners of the Earth, and that’s going to be hard. I need to allow for that hardness - that time of grief (especially for 1; my local bestie is leaving for a country it’s not currently easy for me to visit), and move on. My monthly drunk brunch group is most likely dissolving with these two leaving (we’ll be down to 5 OG members; 1 of which is actually reliable at attending our monthly fetes), and that’s going to take one of my set social days out of my weekly calendar - that’s mostly ok, for the moment at least I’ve replaced my weekly Wednesday breakfast with a rousing Detox Yoga class. But still ... I’m going to need to address this issue sooner rather than after I’ve refused to get off the couch or take a shower for 3 days in a row. Dog Training - The home training is going fairly-well; the wiens understand (mostly) that we don’t want them to lose their everloving minds every time someone is in the hallway, and they’ve (mostly) stopped singing when locked in the bedroom while I’m out. We do, however, need to continue to work on Odin’s leash manners - his anxiety, panic attacks at seeing other dogs and not being able to play with them all - and his pulling. OMFG the pulling. Such strength for 7 kilos, you’d think he was training to singlehandedly win the Iditarod. We have 1 private training session left and a good few group sessions to attend. We need to go to those, and continue to work with him daily. I need to get better at this - currently, I suX0r at it and DH has it down pat. I need to suck less. New Business Because of all this impending turmoil, I’m feeling a loss of control. Happily, this loss is taking the form of wanting to do a big ole’ purge. I’ve been feeling uneasy about the amount of - things - I’ve let creep back into my life for awhile now and I feel like I’m at odds with my wardrobe again. Since I like a good long-term challenge and feel like I may need to be strong-armed into not sewing allthethings (especially impractical things) clothing-wise (like, when would I actually *wear* a corset in my current life? How many historical skirts do I need? Do I need more 50s dresses? What about weirdo structural pieces? Do I actually need any of those?), let’s do a 333 challenge: 33 articles of clothing only (aside from underpinnings, athletic and swimwear) for 3 months. I’ll at least start it this challenge by reviewing and documenting what I have, and I’ll report on the outcome. This challenge should shoot me riiiiiiight through at least 1 holiday and into the beginnings of Summer - when things get interesting. I’m curious to see if I can make it work without blowing my 7 kilo carry-on rule or melting in the heat. Mini challenge (either all-guild) or Druid-specific. I’m writing these goals out hella early, and it remains to be seen whether we are doing an all-guild dealie, or if we are reviving Druid-specific minis. Do that. Whatever *that* is. EDIT: The all-guild mini has shaped up, and I think y’all will like it. I’m excited about it. Scoring & Reporting Points are fun, so let’s go back to scoring. Most of my goals are daily, so scoring will take the shape of ‘x of 7’. A few are more esoteric, and will be more of a ‘did I do X thing by the end of Challenge? Food POD x of 7 Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snack Anything try to kill me? Yoga 365 What did my practice look like today? X of 7 Crafts Current Project(s): What did I work on today? X of 7 Support Network What is my battle plan this week? Did I work toward it? X of 7 Dog Training Did I work with the babes today? X of 7 Clothing Have I done an assessment? Have I pared to 33 items? Mini Challenge Did I do my part to drive my car of this particular Hype Train? X of 7

I'm great at making plans. I am a charter member of the People's Front of Judea: But I still haven't lost 25lbs, I still hit snooze and rush out the door in the morning, I still don't get the dishes washed up... I have plenty of plans in place, plenty of strategy, I know what I must do and have the time to do it, so now it is time for me to 1) Wake up early and go to gym I already have my gym clothes already at the gym, I have the ability to set an alarm clock, I already have a plan... so I need to 2) Minimalize My Useless Shit I already have a weekly cleaning to-do list, I already have the ability to throw shit out that I don't need, so I need to 3) Mindfulness I already have my yoga mat laid out with all I need for practice, I already have the online membership for yoga classes, I need to Starting Monday, I will take action.

This will be updated throughout the days, and will look back at this later. but here is the first draft! So in the last challenge I worked on reading everyday, however I found out that I had a good habit of reading in the train, I have 2x 45 minute in the train 5 times pr week, and im reading in most of those breaks (when I dont do this challengetext ;)) so I will try to see if I an maintain that without it being part of the next challenge. 1. I won't miss you when you're gone keyword: Minimalism Object: To own 1 less thing for every day of the challenges. Rules: For every day get rid of one thing, (28 total for the duration of the challenge), if I for some reason dont chose a thing, ill get rid of 3 the following day (so 1penalty item) If I buy new things I will have to get rid of the same amounts of stuff, so 1 pair of jeans in, an additional item out. Ill post here either by words of pictures what I get rid of :). Rules 2: I dont count hygiene items like toilet paper and so forth, the same with food items that I need to maintain a daily living. 2. Get your hands dirty keyword: Movement & Balance Object: To have my hands buried in the dirt it being actually dirt or just a dirty floor every day. Rules: Every contact counts, this can include crawling, locomotion, handstand, headstands, grounding or yoga, anything goes. Rules 2: Variety is key, get those hands dirty! what is an assassin covered in dark, if your hands are white! 3. How to juggle life keyword: Juggling, Balancing, Manipulation and Contact Juggling. Object: Spend one turn on the hourglass at least 5 days a week, doing one of the things in the keyword Rules: Anything that can be used should preferable be used: Juggling balls, flair bottle, sticks, Crystal bowl. The duration of the hourglass is 20 minutes. Rules 2: Video update once pr week. 4. On the shoulders of giants. keyword: Shoulder flexibility and mobility Object: Focus on mobility and flexability of the shoulder joint, both directly movement of the shoulder, but also strengthening of the back and relaxing of the chest. Rules: Use whatever you have of equipment to help. Hanging from a bar, foam roller, lacrosse ball, sticks and weights. Just get those shoulders working!. Rules 2: Pictures will be uploaded every week, with baseline pictures this sunday. Eagle pose will be one of the measurements.

All around us, it was as if the universe were holding its breath . . . waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both. G'Quon wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities – it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender." The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain. Big Why I have respawned more times than I can count. And I think the main reason is that my big why wasn't strong enough, or big enough, or revisited often enough. I always start out strong but then something happens to disrupt the routine, or I get distracted, or lose focus, and it all comes crumbling down again. I was having a deep conversation with my partner and he said, "I wish you could just be happy with yourself the way you are, and I think you would be happier overall if you just accepted yourself as you are, instead of constantly trying and failing." I understand what he was trying to say, but I think there is a fundamental part of me that says, "You could be better." It says, "You weren't always like this, and staying this way is a failure." There's a logical part of it that says, "A healthier lifestyle would be good for your mental health because endorphins are a great remedy for depression," and "Most of your depression and insecurity comes from being unhappy with the state of your health and appearance, your inability to buy clothes, the loss of looks you once had under pounds of extra flesh, and being too unfit to do things you used to be able to do so easily." So, while I appreciate that he was saying what he said from a place of love and with the hope that I would love myself as much as he loves me, and be happy with myself in who I am now, I think that I will respectfully disagree. I deserve to be in the best condition I can be. I owe it to myself to look after my body. When I know what the right choices are, it makes no sense that I keep making the wrong choices. SMART Goals/Quest list This is a master list; I won't work on them all at once but I will work towards these big goals with the challenges. Nutrition: 1. Eating planned meals according to macros: 33P/29C/38F 2. Weighing and tracking food on MFP for at least 30 consecutive days 3. Phasing out carbonated drinks (including diet soda) in favour of water, tea and black coffee. 4. Cutting down on sugar and processed foods over time. 5. Reducing take-out meals to 3 times a week. Mental: 1. Getting control of my depression through meds and therapy. 2. Improving self-care such as brushing my teeth at least twice a day for a month. 3. Meditating every day for a month. 4. Overcoming social media addiction. 5. Updating progress here at least once a day. 6. Using my bullet journal to manage my time effectively. 7. Doing deep thinking about relationship stuff to improve our communication. 8. Tidying the apartment for 30 minutes every day. 9. Completing a konmari of the apartment before we move to Ecuador. 10. Quit smoking. 11. Developing real life, sincere friendships. Fitness 1. Exercising every day (30 day fitness challenge app). 2. Building a regular workout routine (on paper and in practice). 3. Developing a yoga practice routine on my rest days. 4. Spending at least 30 minutes outside each day (once I have left China and its air pollution). 5. Swimming at least once a week. 6. Do a 2 minute plank. 7. Do a pull up. 8. Run a 5k. 9. Climb a volcano. And if anything pops up to throw me off track, I will be prepared. After all,

Yes I stole my title from the name of my favourite game currently, Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (I have 400+ hours in it and I still suck). BUT WHAT IS LIFE, IF NOT A BATTLE? Ahem. Okay. Enough of the dramatics. Settle in because this will be a large post. I sat down yesterday/earlier today and wrote out what I wanted to be doing in 2018 and onward. Here's the list: Finish Cert IV in Programming Follow Barefoot Investor plans Follow No Shopping plans Be outside more Read more Write regularly Lift regularly Do yoga/stretching Provide constructive reviews Move more Be more present Find my Tribe Work on Epic Quest Items Move forward with my career From this list I've decided to work on the following goals for this challenge: Finish Cert IV in Programming Follow Barefoot Investor plans Follow No Shopping plans Lift regularly Let's discuss, shall we? FINISH CERT IV IN PROGRAMMING Well, I'm not going to be able to complete this during the challenge. It's a long course that I'm finding isn't engaging me AT ALL. But I paid nearly $4k for it (I'm still paying that off) and I need to start working on it again. So the step in relation to this goal is: 1. Spend 5 minutes every day working on my Cert IV in Programming Why just five minutes, I hear you ask? Well, it was something Bean Sidhe mentioned that really struck a chord with me. You see, my mind freaks out at the thought of having to find a large amount of time to do something. But five minutes? Five minutes is easy. To ensure I complete it, I've stuck a sticky note on my monitor to remind me. FOLLOW BAREFOOT INVESTOR PLANS My sister lent me her copy of The Barefoot Investor and I've had a read through and think it will work really well for me. I've had to adjust the percentages that he recommends but my weekly budget should look like: Daily Expenses - 70% Smile (money for long-term pleasure buying) - 7.5% Splurge (money for short-term pleasure buying) - 7.5% Fire Extinguisher (use this towards debts) - 15% You're also meant to set aside $2,000 for your Mojo account (which is what you use in emergency situations like job loss, unforeseen medical expenses). I still need to find the money for this. My steps for this goal is: 2. Change my bank account details with work to my new accounts 3. Stick to the percentages 4. Save Fire Extinguisher in my Smile account for the five weeks then make an additional payment towards my student debt 5. Organise all items I'm putting up for sale - picture/catalogue as required (the money from this will go to my Mojo account FOLLOW NO SHOPPING PLANS This idea comes from Cait Flanders' blog where she spent two years without shopping (except for necessities and items on a pre-approved list). As someone who hoards things as badly as a dragon which just causes her stress and anxiety, this is something I'd like to do. However there are a few differences between Cait and myself. Namely, I'm a homeowner and she isn't. So now that I've told you I'm not buying things, here is everything I'll be buying in 2018+ The Essentials Groceries Gardening Supplies Toiletries Cleaning products Gifts Business expenses Education endeavours Travel/adventures Items on my pre-approved shopping list Pre-Approved Shopping List (it's a long one) Dog door Installation Computer chair Aircon installation Standing desk Garden remodel Dishwasher installation Outdoor table & chairs Shelf system to cover bathroom window New Samsung dvd remote Car service/parts replacement Door makeover items - incl. handle Bicycle & helmet What I WONT Be Buying Clothes (unless I lose weight and have nothing to wear) Shoes & accessories Books and magazines Household items Electronics & appliances Takeout food Desserts (I can however buy ingredients to make a dessert, just can't bring home pre-made ones) Alcohol (unless in a social gathering) DVDs & games The exception is that if anything I own breaks, I can buy a replacement for it. The step for this goal is pretty much: 6. Follow the No Shopping Plans LIFT REGULARLY Figured as this is a fitness forum I should probably have one active goal. I miss lifting. But it's getting me to lift that is the sticking point. So, much like the study step: 7. Spend 5 minutes lifting every day Okay, I'm gonna go have a lie down now.

Main Quest: Foundation Building This one has turned into pretty much a short-term Epic Quest. I'm still working on shelter. I figured out a [constantly-evolving] weekly chore list in the previous challenge, which I will keep adding to. I am thinking timelines and scheduling should be the main focus this time to ensure that they get done. Chore List: Laundry - Wednesday and Saturday morning Dishes - Wednesday and Saturday morning Sweep and dust once a week Grocery and cooking once a week Taking out the dogs once a day Trash once a week Junk mail/email once a week Bathroom cleaning once a week Eliminate tabs on browser Misc: Daily Instagram and Facebook post Bi-weekly Coaching updates Big Tasks: Living Room - boxes of papers, books, old magazines, etc. Closet - sort clothes, throw away other clothes Weekly Schedule - install whiteboard, figure out priorities Side Quest: Order of the Mage Slayers Knowing that the Order might be itself corrupted if exposed to magic, the Vizjerei deemed that the Assassins would have to possess the purest, most focused minds, that they should draw their power from within, not without. I will be embracing the guild's roots in minimalist training to avoid distractions as much as possible. (1) Training in my garage will always be timed and limited to 60 minutes; as I always end up spending too much time playing hee-haw with the fuck-around gang. (2) I will also be focusing on the ever-elusive Handstand, until I can eventually hold it for 60 seconds. Daily 5 minutes of Handstand work followed by 10 minutes of meditation. Ya makasi. ======================================================================== WEEK 1 TASKS ✘ Draft Facebook Posts (5/7) ✔ Update Trainerize ✘ Bathroom ✘ Sweep and Dust ✔ Grocery ✔ Cook ✔ Junk Mail ✔ Trash ✔ Laundry 1 ✔ Laundry 2 ✔ Dishes 1 (delegated) ✔ Dishes 2 ✔ Dogs Sun ✘ Dogs Mon ✔ Dogs Tue (delegated) ✔ Dogs Wed (delegated) ✘ Dogs Thu ✘ Dogs Fri ✔ Dogs Sat Tab count: 31 Handstand / Headspace Sun: Partial Wall 5x6s; Motivation 6 Mon: miss / miss Tue: Partial Wall / miss Wed: Partial Wall / miss Thu: Partial Wall / miss Fri: Partial Wall / miss Sat: Partial Wall / miss

Fonzico woke up to a surprisingly balmy October day. She stretched up, rising on her tippie toes to greet the sun - "where have you been, my friend?" Turning to Hyzer with a sly grin, "what do you say, boy? Time for an adventure?" I fully admit, I've been taking advantage of my hubby and letting him do the lions share of the dog walking lately. Which is insane, as one of the reasons I wanted a dog was to have a walking companion, since hubs doesn't really like to walk unless it's to get somewhere. Especially since the days are now getting shortly (quickly!) I'm really going to need to fight the laziness. So, the adventures of me and the puppers is going to be my theme this time around. Target One Acquired: Complete the Whole 30! I started on October 10th, and will finish on Nov 8th. I have a bridal shower/bachelorette party on the 11th, so that weekend I will not be worrying about food choices, but my plan is to get back into it the following Monday. Maybe not for an official 30 days again, but really try to keep this as my way of eating - I've slipped back into old habits much too quickly after previous ones. I don't want to think of it as being "done" anything. 1 pt for each Whole 30 day. Week Zero counts. 3 pts for November 13th being Whole 30. 5 points for weekly meal prep A=55 pts B=45pts C=35pts D=23pts <23pts=I did not finish the Whole 30 so super fail. Target Two Acquired: Workout! I have started going to kettlebells again, because my favourite instructor started teaching again, and also it's at a time I can actually make it to. It's awesome... but it's only once a week. And I've been super lazy lately about supplementing it. One point per workout... again, we're counting week zero. A+=12 A=10 pts B=8 pts C=6 pts D=4pts (A+ means I get a prize... TBD.) Target Three Acquired: Walk the puppers. Every. Day. He needs two walks a day, so if I'm walking him once, that means it's a fair split. Also it's good for me. I'm going to try to get some pre-work walks in - part of why I've been able to slack on this is that hubby has been working from home, but that will be coming to a pause soon, so that means pre-work walks will soon become a necessity. Also, I can totally bank walks on this one (IE 2 walks a day = I can take a day off) A+=45pts A=35 pts B=30pts C=25pts D=20pts Target Four Acquired: Get the house in shape. I've been trying to "purge" this beast for forever... with minimal headway. Also, I am hosting the aforementioned bridal shower, and I want my place to look like a damn show home (okay, that's not actually possible, with the whole shabby boho design philosophy I've got going on here, but you know what I mean...). Priority will be the public spaces, but bonus points for getting to other rooms. 1. Organize and cleaning dining room. 3 pts 2. Clean deck/balcony area. 3 pts 3. Declutter mantle area. 1 pt 4. Organize side table drawers, and clear all surfaces in living room. 4 pts 5. Do something about the lizard stand. 1 pt 6. Clean ceiling fan. 1 pt ------ That's what needs to happen before the party, for sure. Obviously baseline cleaning as well, but the above stuff should only need doing once. 7. Tidy coat closet 3 pts 8. Tidy linen closet. 2 pts 9. Clean/tidy/purge craft room (ughhhh it's so bad...) 7 pts 10. Purge/tidy kitchen cabinets. 5 pts A+=30pts A=23pts B=18pts C=13pts Really, less than a C is a fail here.. So, I've been really trying to contemplate my big "why" lately, and I think it really comes down to wanting to feel pride about myself. I mean, I AM proud of a lot of things - I'm proud of the work I do, I'm proud of my art, I'm proud of the kind of wife I am... but I'm not proud of my body, of some of things it can't do, and of how it looks. I know that a lot of this is vain, but if I'm being really honest, it's true. Especially right now, as I am a bridesmaid in two weddings next year, for which we are going dress shopping next month, and one of which is in Mexico=swimwear. I just want to feel good about myself, and also with how I look in the photos! So anyways, vain as it is, that is my motivation right now. And dammit, I'm going to do this! ("This" meaning feeling good in a bikini.).

Good evening, bonsoir, and nos da, warrior pals! I'm still on the planet, just not right now so much on the internet. These last few weeks, I've been a wee bit hard on myself. See, the thing is, well, I joined Nerd Fitness and found the forums and the challenges and the Academy and the Facebook group and I got MOTIVATED. Like, really really really motivated. "Gemma, you say that like it's a bad thing. Is motivation bad?" "Why no, InnerVoice, of course not. Motivation is a very good thing. But it must be tempered by wisdom. Motivation accompanied by foolishness leads to burnout and insanity. And not necessarily the fun sexy movie kind of insanity." Of course, I had my challenge goals from last challenge, which BTW I did NOT do especially well on (except I did eat a LOT of protein, so yay protein.) But then - MOTO!!! - on top of that, I piled on: Re-booting my previous language-learning efforts. Aside: Huzzah for Duolingo, which I only found *because* of Nerd Fitness and which just might be my new favorite thing ever! Except on top of trying to Duolingo both French and Welsh every day, I had to go overboard and download a million podcasts of Coffee Break French and watch dozens of Welsh pronunciation tutorial YouTube videos and listen to only French and Welsh folk music and basically try to achieve fluency in both in a matter of weeks because I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS! I'm super excited about trying to be truly multi-lingual, but I need to get my head around the idea of maybe not this week. Aside: I was already quasi-competent in tourist French, a complete newbie to Welsh. And oh by the way trying to uplevel as fast as possible from marksman through sharpshooter to distinguished expert in the marksmanship challenge that I'm working on. And learning how to bullet journal (great habit, but super easy to get reallyreallyreally carried away with if you look into the hypnogourd of über fancy BuJomess all over Instagram and Pinterest and the evil book of faces.) And (related to BuJo) suddenly randomly remembering that I used to love to draw and haven't in a long time, so now trying to add in some sketching time every day . And suddenly randomly deciding that I want to re-learn how to contact juggle, right NOW, so trying to throw in 10-15 minutes of that practice every day. Oh, yeah, and, just for bonus point funsies - yesterday marked the end of one of the semi-annual ballbuster major inspections at my place of gainful employment, in the course of which I was publicly reprimanded for inappropriate use of common sense. These things happen twice a year, I've had this job for nine years, you'd think I wouldn't get stressed out about the stupid inspections anymore. But no. That's not how I roll. Insomnia and indigestion and irritability, oh my. So I have officially decided that this challenge has no power over me. Just maintain. Just keep doing the things that are valuable. Let go of the ones that aren't. continue my Duolingo streak, daily practice of both languages continue to BuJo, but it does not have to be fancy. Doodles and washi tape and motivational quotes and perfect handlettered headings and ... whatever ... are fine. If I have time to kill. If not, just write down the bullets and get on with my life. continue going to the Starting Strength gym and doing exactly what my coach says, but don't get too caught up in lifting a specific # of pounds on a specific lift by a specific date. Trust the coach, trust the process, what is my big hurry anyway? I'm not a competitive strengthlifter, I'm just a middle-aged woman trying not to end up in premature assisted living. I don't need to get super-strong super-fast, I just need to keep getting stronger at a reasonable pace as the preferable alternative to getting weaker. That's enough. I'm not adding more. I'm liable to hurt myself if I add more. Mental health is a good thing, I ought not squander it. I will get back on that juggling thing LATER, when I have a little more bandwidth. Because it is kind of the coolest thing in the world to be able to do, and I can kind of do it, but I'm not great at it and I really want to be great at it. Really. But not right now. Later. Maybe after Welsh. So, yeah, just that. I'll try to check in here more consistently. I miss you powernerds!

Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. I'll quit being a slacker, and actually *do* a challenge. This hype train ain't gonna build and run itself, now, is it? This is step 1 in a multi-part challenge where I: brace for impact but hurry up and wait, (temporarily) lose my DH, jettison 99% of the shit I own, pack my dog and myself up and move halfway across the globe, reunite with DH, and adjust to a whooooooooooole other level of "new normal". I thought this last year was a kick in the butt? Well, I haven't seen anything yet. This first part of the challenge *should* see me through about half of this journey - the DH is scheduled to bounce at the end of this month, and I'll be following shortly after on a grand tour of sorts to see a few people I need to see before relocating my start map. That is, providing this shit actually happens this time and we're not forced to reconsider all of life reeeeaaaaaal quick. Again. It should also see the return of some of my favorite Nerds to the boards, and an inevitable revving up of the hype train. So maybe I'll actually get off my ass and *do* something. Like, I dunno: Work Out, behave my belly, aim in a direction, post more than once a day while half asleep. Goals Since I'm still in a holding pattern as of this morning (I'm actually in an airport on my way back from a fantastic Nerd wedding weekend where I got to see some of my favorite Internet peeps + recharge my social batteries a bit), waiting to see if the last of the DH's paperwork clears and his timeline stays the same, I'm aiming to start small. Goal The First Macros, yo. If I'm not Bucket listing it or at an event with Chef friends, I need to eat what I need to be eating to not feel like utter shit. That includes a mostly-paleo diet following the following macros: 70g protein 70g or under carbs 100g or under fats Now, given my current life circumstances (namely, the best damn brunch game in town run by a friend in my freaking building), a little leeway for fresh English muffins on the benny and chilaquiles is permitted on weekends. Goal The Second Print, codify, collate, and color-coordinate as much moving-plan-wise as possible. Book as much travel as I'm able. Adult things like the dog shots & my vaccinations. Also, film a weekly update for YouTube. And, plan when and how to get rid of my shit - plan the "house cooling" party. Get bins for and pack the shit we're storing with friends. Spend as much time as possible with local friends. Pull the trigger on the Amazon shopping list for travel essentials & clothing basics. Detail aaaaaaaalll this minutia for y'all. Goal The Third I've noticed over the past month or two that the arch on my left foot (my garbage fire side) has started collapsing. At the Walking Store, the foot scan they did showed a false high arch because I tend to stand with weight on the outsides of my foot - which is something I've noticed and tried to remain cognizant of since childhood - and is super totally why that side of my body is jacked up and that ankle rolls if you look at it funny. Duh. I need to work on this. I've found a couple rehab routines that take zero space and almost no time - I need to do them. Daily. Or as close to daily as I can remember to do. My side-eye peeps, go ahead and rev those peepers up. I'd throw in a lofty yoga goal here too, but that's probably not realistically going to happen while my tiny-ass apartment is in chaos and I'm running around like a damn chicken with its head cut off. Goal The Fourth Stay Calm And Support My Nerds Some of the more bananas Rangers *@Raxie* *cough* *@Wolfie* *cough* and I were missing the hype of the Ranger Board Of Old and feel it's time for a resurgence of the hype train. #allthethings is missed, y'all, as is hitting the gas for the sake of hitting the gas. Even though my little corner of the universe is upending itself (again), Imma do my part and throw myself at that shit wherever possible. I'm returning to the minis, answering call-outs, and generally planning on supporting my Herd wherever possible - be that through numbers in a game, exposition, or simply more engaged commenting -- I'll be here with a big bottle of Hype. And some gifs. Even if finding said gifs sux0rs on Tapatalk.

She blinked as she woke up. She reached for her glasses on the nightstand...good god, it's covered with stuff. What happened to the sleek modern nightstand with a couple magazines and a fancy ipad that controlled the lights? This place is a wreck. She finds her phone...it's 7 am. She never wakes up that early without an alarm. Slowly she begins to remember. She's not in London anymore. The view outside her window is no longer the impenetrable Tower of London, it's...a two-story 1960s LA apartment building. She can see the smog in the distance, and it's already pushing 85 degrees. The mission was a success. She ran through the tasks: the dry suit diving at the Churchill Barriers to get the keys to the Tower. The coded message from the shepherd in the highlands, delivered in morse via sheep shears. The unexpected rendezvous with an agent she'd known since childhood. The coordinates, hidden in plain sight at Westminster. And finally, the disaster thwarted when she returned the missing treasure to its spot in the Tower. It had been a great success, and no one would ever hear about it. And now she was back at home, awaiting the next gig. Maybe this time she'd try to settle down. Work a regular job, that kind of thing. It seemed impossible, but who knows? Stranger things have happened. ---- Well, I'm back from a 3 week vacation in Scotland & London and I barely know what real life is anymore. I'm crashing hard from the long time away from work, all the walking, the good food, the time outdoors, and of course, all the people and problems I ignored while I was gone! I'm trying a gentle re-entry challenge to get my head back in the regular day-to-day, with a little bit of travel inspiration thrown in. What I love about traveling: I don't worry about anything that isn't actually important. I see lots of cool new stuff and have a lot of time to think. I have far fewer possessions to deal with and all of my possessions get used regularly. I intentionally use things up rather than saving them for a just-in-case scenario. What I don't love about travelling: I don't take care of my body as well (eat bad food, don't work out, don't hydrate) I spend too much money My quest for this challenge: To retain the magical spirit of vacation but also To rebuild the habits that support me (It's also the one-year anniversary of my last re-spawn, as well as QUEST #1: Work out 2x per week. Although I'm behind on my yearly workout goal by 9 workouts, now is not the time to go crazy on adding workouts! Before the trip I was solidly at 2x/week and I am sure I can achieve that again. QUEST #2: Eat vegetables every day. I have a lot of support here from my partner who is also lamenting the large quantities of potatoes we ate in the UK. QUEST #3: Get to bed by 10 pm every work night. I will sleep minimum 8 hours per night, and get to bed before 10 pm each night. QUEST #4: Write and post a poem every day. I'd really like to do more here (like get my Patreon page set up) but for now I want to just keep up the momentum I had on this project while I was travelling. I'm also trying some new strategies for managing my day-to-day life that I'd like to record here without making them part of the official challenge: Don't fill up your to-do list just because you have things to do. In fact, if you fill it up, you're doing it wrong. To-do list should be reserved for things that are actually going to get done, not things you are idly considering. Clothing diet: this is something I've done after trips before, where I wear the same clothes I wore on my trip for about a month after I return. Often the things I packed for the trip are among my favorite clothing and it reminds me that I can get rid of clothes I'm not wearing AND I can get by with fewer clothes. One fun thing, one work thing: I gotta keep doing laundry and stuff but I don't have to only do laundry. I will prioritize one fun activity every day. Save money wherever possible. Stay in, eat in, prep lunches. Okay, it's about 3 am according to my body so off I go to bed. I'm excited for the challenge ahead and really trying not to overstuff it.

Original post: Challenge goals: 1. Minimize room. 2. Stretch every morning. 3. Exercise every day. 4. Serve less food at mealtimes. Details: 1. Let go of excess clothing, books, papers, miscellany, mementos, etc. Marie Kondo-style. Except she gives clients 6 months and I'm going to do it in four weeks (or five if I spill over a bit into zero week) because challenge timeframe. And because I still basically live like a college student with all my life possessions stored in a single room, so I don't have to do the whole house. 2. Greet the morning with a full-body yoga session. I've gotten really stiff and lost a lot of my flexibility from lack of stretching lately, and I want it back. Although I pretty much stay hidden in my room first thing in the morning, regardless of how much mess I make with goal #1 I should still have space for a yoga mat in here. 3. Two part goal, first part is do something active: swimming, walk 2 miles, do a day of Elements, do a dumbbell workout. If I come up with some other workout plan I like, I might consider adding it, but I think I already have so many options it's probably better to stick with what's here. Second part is just put pull up bar up in my doorway every day after Mom leaves the house (and take it down when she comes home). Usually having it up is enough to remind me to spend some time playing with it, but I can't keep it up 24/7 because the door doesn't close and my mom hates the sight of it. So just while she's not here! 4. Try to down-adjust "normal" portion sizes by serving a bit less at every meal. If it wasn't enough, go back for more, but check in and make sure it REALLY wasn't enough first. Does not apply to salad. Title: It would be more accurate to say "Wobbegong Cleans It Up" because exercise habits, physical space, and diet habits are all getting tidied this challenge. However, "Makes a Mess" sounds like more fun, and at the very least step 1 will result in a mess (temporarily).

Continuing on the trend of trying to rebuild my damn good habits this go round. Maaaaaaaaybe something will stick this time, eh? Goals aren't really changing much - maybe adding novel accessory work is just the kick in the pants i need. Buckle up for a brain dump. Goal The First: Work Out I am still sucking at making this a consistent thing in the face of having an inconsistent schedule. This is something that is always going to be difficult for me given my love of routine. This is also something I need to actively fight to work on - coasting isn't going to get it, waiting for a stable schedule damn sure isn't getting it - actively working against my need for order is pretty much the only thing that's going to work here. I need to tell my brain that the world is not going to stop spinning on its axis if I don't work out at 5:00 4x a week. I don't *have* a 5:00 4x a week. Now, that's not to say I'm going to be radically changing things (to am workouts ... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww) or dropping responsibilities that are either actively making me the benjamins or will lead to future cheddar. I'm more going for a 'stop in the face of schedule panic, look at the panic, identify the panic, and tell it to go F itself' kind of thing here. Baby steps. My brain is not going to melt if I work out at 3:30. I'm (sorta) unemployed, for jibbers' sakes. What I'm thinking: Start trying out yoga studios either near home or school or both. Get all up in this 14-day yoga challenge Come up with some sort of accessories thing - like 50 squats a day for a week - something I can do while cooking, watching tv, or taking a pee break during class Goal The Second: Quit Eating Like A Damn Ninny -- AGAIN Seriously. I can't be trusted with 2 variances a week, because apparently that means in my little raccoon brain that I can visit the uber fancy-ass coffee/"healthy" food place and eat damn dessert (because it's not a sandwich and it's cheap). When did dessert - even healthy dessert with mostly paleo ingredients - become ok in my brain? I don't even really like dessert. Why do I keep getting it, then? Ohhhhhh yeah. Keto. Keto increased my intake of sweet stuff from zero to 'every damn thing has Stevia in it let's eat a zillion Quest bars because that's all I can have' mode. Thanks, me. Gooooooood thinking. I really don't want to have to Whole30 it to break this mental cycle - especially not with class starting back up in a couple weeks - but I will if I must. Until then, I'm going for a more balanced approach to thinking about what I am shoving into my face. Fats: Good - but not allthefats because I'm not operating under the cloak of fat burning Carbs: Okayish. Don't eat allthecarbs but don't eat keto-few carbs. I missed kale and pineapple Fruits: Moderation, yo Veggies: Eat more of these and more variety - broccoli and kale are the jam, but other veggies exist Meat: Let's not go back to 'all meat all the time' snacking, shall we? Nuts: I'm finally almost tired of nuts - except hella expensive macadamia nuts and cashews Other Snacks: I need to calm down on the packaged snacks. Quest bars are great, but I don't need more than 1 a week - and that one, only in an emergency Sugar: What the Serious F is going on here? Dates: still sugar. Cacao: Always has sugar. Stevia: Yep. It's sugar. Sthaaaaaaaap Dairy: Also stop. Cow milk hates me. Other animal milk is ok, but not when it makes cow cheese a thing in my head. I've been pretty good here recently, but this always needs work unless I'm strict paleo-ing it So, what does that leave me? Back to paleo land. Which is a land I'm comfortable in. I lived in harmony there for a couple years. I need to go back. No crazy other hard stuff until I get back to that land and sit there for awhile. Also. Contemplate going back to tracking macros. I know what works for me: 70g or under on carbs, 100g or under in fats, 70g or so of protein. It works when I'm consistent. My calories are sometimes too low, buuuut I can fix that with more fat since I'm still in fat = yummy mindset. Goal The Third: Get A Job - Or More Of A Job I've got my hated copywriting gig, a part-part time teaching gig, a part time teaching gig coming up, and that company I've poured hours into in hopes of eventually garnering a paycheck. I need to continue on working to get some gainful employment situation happening. I'll be pretty wiped at night, so networking events most likely won't be happening once class #2 starts up. I need to continue: Submitting 10 applications a week Working on my portfolio Learning CSS Grids while I'm at it Practicing something related to HTML/CSS or Javascript daily Other things I need to do: Build out my "formal" UI/UX portfolio a bit Work on more graphic designy things I actually want to show people - like SVGs (consequently, there's another 50-day challenge for SVGs I could do) Work on networking through my social groups (I'm a part of a few online tech and womens' groups) Goal The Fourth: Rando Keep the house clean Go take pictures Go for a ruck Explore the neighborhood Work on the deadline-driven craft project I've barely started Do what I can where I can to make living in Suburban hell a little better for myself Find peace on mass transit while I'm stuck there for 1:30 often Get back to doing the things I enjoy doing, despite now having 4 hours of my day being taken up by transporting myself a couple times a week - like recipe creation and blogging. And a zillion other things. Not worry about how much more difficult that shit is going to get if I get an office job Fit QT in with the DH since he's now busy at night too with BJJ

The Time Management beast can't be a dragon. It just can't. So it's a gnome. It looks innocent and harmless, and you don't even think you need to wage battle, let alone that it would be a tough one if you do. But gnomeses are sneaky and little and their teeth are sharp. And they are worthy if diminutive foe. And boy oh boy to I have a swarm of gnomes coming down on me! I am just straight up short on time this challenge. I have a LOT of things that need to get done. I have a lot of prior commitments. And I am trying to get a job in a new city, so depending on how that goes, I may have a whole 'nother set of things to take care of! Naturally, what bugs me the most about this is is not KNOWING which immediate future I am planning for... So yes. This challenge is about getting stuff done, but it's also largely about staying sane while I do it. So here are the various gnomic categories that will be occupying my efforts: 1. American Sign Language Class: Every Tuesday and Thursday, except April 27th. I have barely enough time to eat supper after work, and I don't get home until after 9pm, so Tues/Thurs cannot accommodate any further scheduling, unless it's before work. (Blergk!) 2. Workouts: twice a week 3. Disc Golf: I have been bitten by the competitive disc golf bug, and I am determined to get better and do well in tournaments this year! There's a tournament this weekend, and one May 6-7 that will fall under this challenge. Obviously I also need to get lots of practice in - this doesn't have a specific schedule, but will be taking up a great deal of what little spare time I have. This also has a secondary aspect, which is that the hubs and I are 4. Purge the house. If we ARE moving, we need to seriously downsize the absurd amount of possessions we have. If not, this is still a good thing to get done. We have more space that we need in our current abode, and it has just collected clutter, and I'm done with it. So some of these things will be part of my goals, and others are just challenges that I will need to work around to get my other goals done. Without further ado, here are my goals! Eat: But not gluten. Less than 120g of carbs each day. At least 80g of protein. Simple, yes? 1 pt per item per day. Bonus point for carbs below 80g. Bonus point for dairy-free days. A - 84pts B - 74 pts C - 63pts D - 53pts +3CHA Bike: 130 kms. Ease into it for week one, then bike commute daily for weeks 2-4. My bus pass runs out at the end of April, at which point I will switch to bike commuting. It's not far at all (4.2km one way) and takes me about 20 minutes (closer to 15 once I'm in shape!). I need to rent a locker, since I'll be showering at work, and I need to get my stamina back up! The biggest obstacle with this is that I am usually completely wiped out for the first week or so until I get used it again. If I miss a day, I can make up the kms with other biking, that's fine. Weather and sleeping in happen sometimes... I also have a physio appt sometime during this challenge I think, so I'll have to drive that day. A - 130kms B - 115kms C - 100kms D - 85kms +3END Workout: Twice a week. Gym sessions. One on Sundays, one weekday morning. Yes, I'mma have to get up damn early for this. Sigh. A - 8pts B - 6pts C - 4pts D - 2pts +2STR, +2DEX Steps: Take at least 308,000 of them during the course of the challenge. That's 11,000 per day. I have a goal of averaging 10,000 steps per day over the entirety of 2017. I'm a little behind on this right now, so I'm aiming to gain some ground. A - 308,000 B - 299,000 C - 290,000 D - 280,000 +2END PURGE: Get rid of excess possessions. Donate and sell if possible. Throw away if not. Clean as we go. There are a couple rooms that are especially daunting, and so they will be the primary focus of this challenge. 1. Basement Storage Room #1 - this mostly contains camping gear, old shoes, winter gear, supplies for our business and a giant wooden thingy that was rescued from a job site for absolutely no purpose other than to take up room in our house. 2. Basement Storage Room #2 - this is full of recycling, cardboard boxes, tools and assorted building supplies. 3. Craft Room - this one is all on me. I have a LOT of crafting supplies. Like... a lot. The only other thing this room contains is the cat litter and one bookshelf.. and it is full. That being said, every other room in the house needs this treatment, except the upstairs bathroom, which is the only one I've completed so far. So I can still get points for other rooms, but no bonus prize unless I get the 3 big ones done. 10 pts awarded for each primary room complete. 2 pts each for any other room. A - 30pts B - 20pts C - 10pts BONUS PRIZE for 40 pts achieved. TBD. +3INT

I've noticed a couple of people scattered throughout this forum mention minimalism and the minimalist lifestyle in passing, for various reasons. Sometimes because of an upcoming move, or sometimes from a desire to slim down the amount of chaos material stuff tends to bring into their lives. I've flirted with the idea quite often - often from necessity, and most recently from an expected move. It took the looming threat of a move to realize that, push come to shove, I could load a backpack and be gone, but holy carp - where did all this stuff come from? To that end, I wanted to start a thread and share some references for others who want to do some reading, do some research, or just stick a toe into the philosophical waters and see how it feels. There is a fair amount of similarity to Buddhism in regard to viewing how possessions influence our lives and our happiness. I mention that out of a sense of full disclosure, but one need not adopt Buddhism or Zen philosophy to appreciate the tenets presented in the minimalist lifestyle. Certain principles like: if you haven't worn it in a year, why is it in your closet? That's a tough one to answer objectively. Emotionally, there are a variety of answers to be had - some good, some not so much. The flip side of minimalism, which is one possible goal - is understanding how and why we got here. That is an entirely separate post, but speaking for myself, I find impulse shopping as a means of staying entertained at work to be a major contributor, followed closely by "wow, that's a really good deal!" syndrome, and "huh, I bet that would be really useful and it's on sale!" disorder. I mention this only because while minimalism may be the answer to some problems in your life (most notably, too much stuff), it is exceedingly helpful to understand how and why we ended up where we are now. All that said: of this list - there are many books, but I'm only listing the two I have read, or am reading, and recommend them: Books: Websites, blogs, oh my: These are websites I've found from idle Googling (wow, it's a verb), as well as referrals from other sites, authors, links, and so on. I haven't vetted them and as such, some may be more helpful than others - although what may be helpful for me, may not be so for you. And vice versa. Articles of Interest Minimalist, "one bag" traveling Forums: Reddit: Minimalism Cleaning, Organizing, and other costs of stuff: Unfreak your Habitat -some cussing involved, you have been warned. EtA: True to form, I had an idea and I scrambled to get it out there without taking time to revise it, or critique it for improvement. As time passes and more ideas occur to me, I will be changing the first post to reflect a better presentation and delivery format, rather than just throwing out an entire mass of information from a fire hose. Hence, the addition of spoiler tags to help pare down (in the minimalism thread, natch) the amount of material you're being doused with. EtA: And I may be abusing the hell out of spoiler tags. Sorry.

I've been on a roll since the holidays with my training and diet, so I'm hoping to use this challenge to reenergize myself to keep heading in the right direction toward my goal of 10% body fat/185 pound body weight. I currently stick strictly to my diet during the week but don't pay too much attention during the weekends. I'm not horrible, but there is damage being done that I'd like to clean up. I have several projects happening in my house that will need attention this year, so I'm including a couple of tasks that need to be done by March 10, which is our carpet installation date. I have decided to give (mild) minimalism a try, so I'm starting small and trying to reduce my wardrobe a bit. I don't know that I need 20 workout tees, hilarious as some of them were when I bought them. Finally, I have taken a couple of years off from performing a feature length comedy and magic show, but have decided to get back up on stage and do my thing in 2017. I have my new show written, I just need a venue and a date so I can motivate myself to start rehearsing. Specific goals are: 1) Track calories and macros on weekends. 2) Paint the wall that I forgot to paint and vacuum/mop the entire floor on March 9th to be ready for carpet installation on March 10th. 3) Create an "Essential Wardrobe List" and sort wardrobe into On The List/Donate/Discard piles. 3a) Donate/Discard anything not on the List. 4) Contact 5 venues for pricing and availability in October, and schedule site visits ASAP.

Holla, 2017 2016 was a weird year. (in part because of the support I gained from all you lovely Rebels), I hit the eject button have had a complete life change in the last 365 days. in 2016 I Quit my comfortable but unfulfilling job in marketing/design/copywriting Took a 3-month immersive bootcamp to learn the skills necessary to transition into a career in web development Have since undergone the most grueling job hunt I have ever had - including the rough post-college hunt Have gone from on top of my macros game to completely letting that fall by the wayside due to school stress to having dug my way out of the hole I created Have monkeyed with said metrics to transition from paleo to keto (and am still playing around with them for optimization) Have gone from a 5x a week workout schedule to nothing at all during school and a whole host of body crapiness that ensued, to kiiiiinda digging my way back out of that hole Started (assistant) teaching front-end web development at my alma mater Have shattered my comfort zone through: leaving the house (I used to work from home and am a natural hermit), going to a school every damn day with humans in it, forcing myself to attend networking events upon networking events, forcing myself on job interview after job interview, and now putting myself out there as someone who knows enough of what they are doing to be able to teach other humans Have worked really damn hard on not being quite so hyper critical of myself and my abilities in an effort to stay sane during this job hunt Have worked really hard on reaching out to my Nerds for support when I've fallen down on that last one Went to CAAAAAMP and met some of my Internet Friends IRL - with Hugs! And got to tell the NF team in person just how damn much this community means to me - through that, I practiced a whoooooole lot of gratitude in a short amount of time And that's it? Up for 2017 Get a damn job that involves trading services for actual money Minimalize the shit out of my stuff in prep for a move in late February/early March Continue on with yoga - I've got 9 classes of hot yoga that need booking before the move! Aim to add deadlifts & rings into my schedule with the new gym (providing that *is* the new gym - it has barbells and a spot to hang rings) Explore the new neighborhood - wherever it is Work on slooooooowly re-incorporating rucking into my rotation (of course there will be videos) - slowly so I don't roach my shoulder yet again Continually work on my self-criticalness -- especially during the remaining (and hopefully waning) parts of this job hunt Find ways to actively work on cultivating and improving my IRL relationships (Internet ones, too, but that's much easier) Continue to build a presence in the NYC tech community Find more ways to mentor and/or teach since that is a great way to rip the last of my comfort zone out from under myself Travel asap Keep learning in some fashion Keep practicing This Challenge Cycle My goals will look familiar. I'm operating yet again under 'no damn free time in the evenings' protocols, so I'm rolling with the punches comfort v schedule-wise. Goal 1: Work Out Yoga classes 2x a week Something else 1x a week - this can be either a quick Darebee bodyweight workout in the kitchen while doing job stuff, a supplemental video yoga class, or - lord forbid - an HIIT video in the gym. Maybe throw in a ruck if it's not too freezing and my shoulder isn't cranky. Goal 2: Macros Track macros. Stick with keto. Play with fat ratios. All tracking will be done on my Spreadsheet of Keto Awesomeness and involves doughnut charts. Goal 3: Get A Job Continue to apply for 10 - 15 jobs a week Attend networking events as time allows Find and work on side projects - on the list: continuing a 30-day vanilla JavaScript course, picking up PHP, working on SVG animations, building some pure layout sites using various shiny new technologies (either ways of approaching responsiveness, load time or accessibility), working on some pure layout designs that have really tricky elements because they are beautiful, and working on some great full-workup UI sites for business just because. I will also look into picking up some sort of side hustle to generate some supplemental income. Goal 4: Other Life Shit Here is where I will work on all those other goals - starting with minimalism. Dog pics forthcoming.

16:365 And a new year, and some small daily things to make my life better. The big stuff I am leaving for the challenges. It worked well last year, and this year it should be better. The idea is not to crush everything every day, but just to do something every day that will make my life a little better. Tiny little habits. 1. Rise and Shine Get up every morning before 5. Something I've been doing for the past few months, it really helps to exercise in the morning. 2. 750 words Write 750 words every day. This could be anything, journal, stream of consciousness stuff or whatever. It takes around 15 minutes, I've been slacking on this during the holiday but will get back to it. It is also a good way to practice my touch-typing skills. 3. Cleaning. Do a little bit of cleaning every day. I've been working on minimalism for a few years now, and it is easy to just keep up. 4. Make my bed. This is easy. The difficult part is getting the dogs to stay of the bed in the morning so that I can make it. 5. Gardening. A little bit in the garden every day. 6. Meditation. This is very much a habit at present, so I am going on with this 7. Movement. This is in addition to exercise. While walking the dogs I've got a little arm swinging, leg swinging routine that helps a lot with stress. Rating Gold star for all, silver star for most, red star for some. It is very much a subjective rating system, but I like it. And this year I am giving myself permission to skip any of it on Sundays and Social days.

For once, I'm keeping things short and sweet. I need to focus a lot more on being more organized with my life and being more efficient with my time, and a lot less on chasing shiny things. Of course, I'll still be posting about parkour and my normal stuff, and I'll still be eating right + exercising. I just don't want to make that a huge focus. Goal 1: The morning routine - Each morning, right after sending the kids to school, I will complete the following morning routine before letting myself get distracted by other things: -Brief (or longer, if I feel like it) yoga flow -Take care of any dishes or laundry that need to be done -make the daily to-do list Goal 2: The To-Do list: Each Monday, I will make a List of the things I'd like to accomplish that week. Also, every day during my morning routine, I will make a list of things I want to accomplish that day. This list will hopefully keep me focused on the important things. Goal 3: Decluttering and purging: Each day, I will declutter some area in the house and throw away as much as I possibly can. I have too much random junk, and the only way to bring a bit of order to the house is to start throwing things away and stop decluttering by relocating things from one part of the house to another. Goal 4: Coding and piano - Each day, get at least something accomplished or spend some time with each of these. No slacking and no excuses. Goal 5: Batch cooking or complicated cooking project - At least twice/week. This should ensure that I'll have healthy food without necessarily requiring a huge time expenditure per meal. Goal 6: Stay connected - I've been feeling a bit less connected to NF over the last many months, so I'm going to make a huge point of posting at least every day in my thread, and posting in at least 3 other people's threads each day. I'm also going to try to stick with the mini challenge and any PVPs people post.

'Cause I'm back... In the true spirit of nine lives, I am getting my shit together over here. There is a true link between how often and involved I am over here on the boards and my quest for improved strength and mobility, so... my gift to myself (and you, lets admit) is this music-filled challenge thread. If nothing else, the playing of awesome music every morning as I post to my thread keeps me signing on (and dancing at my desk most of the morning). Goals will be simple. 1. Dance to a great song every morning, post it here daily for the greater good. 2. Workout 3 times/week. Can be yoga, weight training, bww, whatevs (but a real effort... don't be a slacker). 3. 3 meals daily, eliminate all unnecessary snacking (because that business adds UP). 4. Walk 2 miles, 5/7 days. 5. Limit alcohol to 2 glasses per week. 6. Keep up with all my nerd friends at least once weekly. I would also like to keep up my minimalism track as well as adulting all the things, so I will post about that here as well, but not goal related this challenge.

I'm back from vacation and needing a serious re-boot. Vacation was awesome, but also filled with beer, moscow mules, cake, pizza, burgers, chips... you get the picture! Time to cleanse the crap and reestablish routines. Pokemon Go was released during the trip and I've joined Team Mystic. I didn't have a theme prepared this time so this one seemed like an obvious choice given the hype train and it plays nicely with my walking/step goal. Updates will be a minimum of couple of times per week. I'd like to do daily, but no guarantees. GOALS: Lapras (water type): HYDRATE! Only water to drink for the duration of the challenge. Iced green tea will be allowed. One beer allowed each Friday and Saturday evening. Hypno (psychic type): MEDITATE! I've been keeping up with my Headspace through the whole vacation! (it was not easy! *pats back*). Keep up my meditation run streak throughout the challenge. I will need to decide about spending the money to continue the Headspace subscription or find something new. Marowak (ground type): WALK! I'm going to do walking a bit different this time and try to revert to my fitbit step counting days. It just kept me moving a bit more all day long rather than just concentrating on one walk per day. Goal will be progressive. Week 1, 7000 steps/day. Week 2, 8,000 steps/day. Week 3, 9,000 steps/day. Week 4, 10,000 steps/day. This should be completely do-able. Hitmoncha (fighting type): STRENGTH! Desperately need to get back to a routine. This may be a work in progress as I'd like to get in some strength, yoga, and mobility workouts but don't want to work out every day. Minimum 3 workouts per week of some sort. Biggest goal is to find a routine that hits all those areas that works for me and my schedule. Jigglypuff (/normalfairy type): MINIMIZE AND CLEAN! I'm going to throw all this under one roof (so to speak), but continue minimizing, shopping ban, and general adulting. The last few challenges I've focused on this quite a lot and I will continue my work, but general adulting/cleaning needs to improve around here. Mostly it's just me being lazy and not cleaning often enough. It's not a fun job, but I need to find a way to treat myself for getting it done or some other incentivizing. I'm open to ideas. GO!!!!! I think it will be fun to include some running Pokemon Go dialogue as well. It was hard to get much Pokemon'ing done on vacation but as of right now I'm Level 7 and have 28 in my Pokedex. I caught Pikachu in my living room last night. It's been super fun since we got home last night because the church next door to us is a Pokestop. The front porch people watching is going to be SUPREME. In fact, a little part of the side of my house is IN Pokemon Go. I'm such a nerd. haha! I haven't done anything with gyms yet. Still learning. I'll update my thread with new catches when I update. Anyone else playing?

Hi, I'm Naxius and I live in a clusterfuck. I'll fancify this post later. For now, a quick Google search for "negative effects of clutter" or anything along those lines is all that's necessary to know that excessive clutter in one's living space is bad. You know, if the "ugh!" feeling in the pit of your stomach when you walk into a room filled to the brim with excessive, unorganized, and unnecessary bullshit isn't enough to make you realize it. Decluttering has been a side goal in most of my challenges ever since I joined NF in mid-2013. The common theme in all these previous decluttering attempts was failure, with a side dish of frustration. For some reason, I just couldn't make myself do things--cleaning up and throwing things away included. My mind operates in mysterious ways. Sometimes, things just "click" seemingly out of nowhere, and I become motivated to do a thing. In 2002, it was the beginning of my physical fitness journey. In 2004, it was the sudden desire to upgrade my high school marks and go to university. Now it's the overwhelming urge to declutter the entire fucking house. The main goal for my current challenge was to clean my room, a task I have been attempting to accomplish since...1995? There have been setbacks in this month's challenge so far because I live with my parents (yay, student loans!) and decluttering efforts often depend on more than one person, but my desire to slay the clutter demons has not faltered. THIS WILL BE DONE! And this will be fun. To make it even more fun, I am inviting everyone who has too much clutter in their lives to join me in the quest to get rid of things. The rules are as follows: 1. Score one point for each item you throw away, donate, set on fire, or get rid of in any way. Any potentially usable item that gets thrown out or donated counts as a point. For example, an old t-shirt that gets thrown into the trash bin counts as one point because the t-shirt could still be used as a pajama top, or to do chores around the house where one might get dirty. The shirt is not useless, but it's clutter and just taking up space at this point. Another example would be a half-empty or near-empty shampoo bottle. There is still some shampoo in it, and it could still be used, but it's not that great for your hair, or you don't like the way it smells, or you already bought a different shampoo that's better, etc. The point that the bottle has potential usefulness but is just sitting there taking up space. Tossing it into the trash will be one point. Tossing a shampoo bottle into the trash if it has no potential usefulness usually happens automatically, and therefore would not count as one point. Or at least I don't count it as one point. Some empty containers/bottles may be counted if they could potentially be used as storage containers or re-used in some way. The choice of whether or not to count it is up to you. tl;dr version: only count items that have potential usefulness. Trash that missed the bin and has been sitting there for a while doesn't count. But...it is also true that some players spawn in areas that contain more low-level bad guys. If someone starts CLUTTERBUSTER in a hoarders-level of an area and there are piles upon piles of trash all over the place, then counting pieces of trash is acceptable, where ten pieces of trash = one point, as this can help generate momentum. 2. (Coming soon) Percentage score based on how many rooms in your living space are clutter-free. 3. Multiplayer mode! Family members or roommates can join your party. Simply ask them to keep count of the things they throw away. For the purpose of score-keeping, players with multiplayer parties will have their scores in red. It's that simple. Post a reply to this thread to record your clutter kills. Keep track of your total on every post in order to avoid losing count. Before and after pictures are also encouraged, as is writing about your decluttering exploits in an epic, fantastic manner. Who can slay the most Clutter Critters?? Scores (last updated April 8)