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This challenge is Batman themed, in honor of Batty's 75th. Overarching Goal: Building A Better Bat My continuing and overarching goal for this entire NF journey has been to build a better/more healthy/more fit/whathaveyou version of me. What does that look like? I don't know. There's the image in my head and then there's the more modest and realistic goal - and I'm guessing reality is going to lie somewhere in-between. (vaguely - 15% body fat & guns ala Linda Hamilton in T2) To achieve this goal, I've leveled up my food (mostly and some cycles better than others), I've participated in a couple of muddy obstacle courses (and plan to do more), "run" a "real" 5k (also plan to do more), followed a few fitness-oriented programs, and have made working out a priority 4-5 times a week. I still have a ways to go, but I think I'm on the right track - I just need to keep this trajectory going + add some more specific challenges into the mix. Goal 1: Fitness - aka be capable enough to escape the Joker whenever Always fitness. I like my 4-5 days a week workout schedule, so I'm sticking to that. The Spartan WODs seem to be working well for me so far, so I think I'll continue down that path with yoga worked in on the days I don't want to do the WOD/can't because it's raining or something. This is dangerously close to one of those pick your own adventure plans that I suck so horribly at, but since I've been able to keep it up for a week, maybe I can keep it going? I would also, ideally, like to work in one of my other side goals here - like being able to do an unassisted pull-up - but we will see how drained this kinda intense workout plan makes me. Goal 2: Metrics - aka Sciiiience! Like Poison Ivy? (go with it) Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended by FitBit 64 ounces, and on the weekends I like my step count to be over FitBit’s recommended 10,000. I track food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water with the FitBit Flex. Weight and BF are tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. Although I don't eat cow dairy any more, this was too great not to share Moving on. Goal 3: Socials - Like With Superfriends & Shit Ok, so I'm not really talking about social media here, but stick with me I feel the need to force myself to be more social. Mostly because my comfort zone is warm and snuggly … also because I realize that snuggling in my comfort zone doesn't really get me what I want in life. I'm not 100% sure what that is, mind you, but it most likely involves someone paying me for doing something I find more fulfilling than what I'm currently doing. So I should probably speak to humans. In meatspace. Life Side Goal - Get My Wardrobe Dialed-in Like Harley Quinn Wardrobe restructure. I've been really into building a minimalist wardrobe lately and think I might be ready to make the jump. Sites like this and Pinterest are fueling this current obsession. My need to purge crap from my house is also driving this desire. Diet Side Goal - NaNa NaNa NaNa NaNa I'm pretty dialed in here. More 'Batman Does Not Eat' shenanigans here. More Bats And More Bats Starting Measurements Neck: 11.5 inches Under Bust: 29.5 inches Waist: 26.5 inches Hips: 38.5 inches Arm (left): 9.5 inches Thigh (left): 19 inches Body fat (calipers): 19.6% Weight (at wake up): 119.3 lbs

I dunno .. because it’s time for Dr. Who .gifs? This challenge will encompass the final realization of the Big Picture Goal I’ve been working toward for months and months, as well as one of the two ‘back home’ vacations I have planned for this Spring/Summer. The Big Picture Goal I’m sticking with my overarching goal - Mudderella. Mudderella is on the 10th and I need to continue what I’m doing in order to be able to finish without dying. Allons-y! Goal 1 Fitness, per usual. I will finish my HasFit Hero 90 program 2 weeks into this challenge cycle, and after that I will be increasing my interval training using Zombies, Run! and creating my own program based on the HasFit platform - incorporating 1 day of yoga with 2 days of Zombies, and 2 days of strength training per week. Goal 2 Stick with my moar metrics agenda. It’s an oldie, but a goodie. Goals are the usual 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein and 1500 or so calories. I’m still tracking food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water intake with the FitBit Flex. Metrics make me happy. Goal 3 I should probably throw a creativity goal in here … I need to paint some tea towels for my brother’s wedding - and I also would like to finish something — like throw pillow covers, or the dress i started working on 2 years ago. Or that scarf my poor hubbs didn't get to wear this year because I am a slacker. Life Goal More culling and organizing. Everything fits in the new place just fine thanks to last cycle's cleaning/organizing goal, but I think I’m ready to move toward the type of house look I actually like - minimalism. I have a bunch of stuff I can jettison that I'm only really keeping out of some bizarre sense of 'these are the things people have' and 'I've had this thing for 30 years!' It's time to unload some crap, while keeping in mind that I don't need to get rid of all the things. And those damn DVDs. I still haven't finished addressing building a user-friendly spreadsheet for those damn DVDs. Diet Side Goal Let’s not fall completely apart while on vacation, shall we? I’d like to avoid going crazy this year and feeling like utter shit halfway through the trip because of the amount of crap I’m pouring into my body. This is a pass/fail goal. Gratuitous Time Lord Imagery And just for funsies

Ok, so I have no real idea where I’m going with this analogy business, since Castamere is a ruined castle in Westeros, and not a land with hills - but bear with me. I’ve had a lot of crap to deal with lately and my brain is broken. This challenge cycle feels like 1 part autopilot (since my goals haven’t really changed in awhile), 1 part maintenance (since my schedule has gotten all screwed up and life keeps throwing hammers at me), and 1 part open waters (why? dunno - Spring, maybe?). The Big Picture Goal I’m sticking with my overarching goal - Mudderella. This challenge cycle is the last before the big day (May 10) and I really need to stay the course in order to be able to finish without dying. Goal 1 As always, fitness, first and foremost. My goal is to continue on with my HasFit Hero 90 program and kick ass at it. I’m hoping against hope that my building’s gym will be completed by the end of this challenge and I’ll have even more facilities at my disposal. For now, my old standby of living room & free weights it is! Goal 2 Stick with my moar metrics agenda Goals are the usual 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein and 1500 or so calories. I’m still tracking food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water intake with the FitBit Flex. Metrics make me happy. Goal 3 Dump the baggage. Downsizing and moving has let me know in no uncertain terms that we have too much shit. A lot of it is shit we don’t really need. I need to weed through some - a bunch - of it and get rid of stuff. Mementos included. Editing needs to happen. LSQ Going hand in hand with the previous goal, I also need to tackle some better organization and finish my DVD matrix from the last challenge. Something simple and spreadsheety is fine. It just needs to get done. DSQ My diet is pretty good, but I’d like to carry on the wealth of inspiration I had during Whole30 last challenge on. This goal is to focus on making inspired meals with an eye toward blog worthiness. I would be happy with 2 recipes per week that are good enough to post - I usually hit 1, and really want to work on staying out of a flavor rut. Whole30 Recap Starting Measurements (taken 02.24.14) Neck at narrowest: 12.5" (up 1/2" from last cycle start) Bust under breast: 30.5" (down 1/2" from last cycle start) Waist at narrowest: 26.5" (down 1" from last cycle start) Hip at widest: 39.5" (down 1/2" from last cycle start) Thigh at thickest: 21" (up 1/2" from last cycle start) Arm at widest: 11.25" (up 1.25" from last cycle start) Weight at wakeup: 118.7 lbs. (down 5.2 lbs. from last cycle start) Height: 5 ft. 2 3/4 inches (5’2†for measuring purposes) According to the FitBit scale, my BMI is: 21.72 (27.3% fat) - mid normal range (down 1 full point from last cycle start) According to calipers, my BMI is: 19.6 - lean range (down from 23.4 at last cycle start)

Darkfoxx 8: Moving Through 2014 With A Slew of Kicked Asses In Her Wake Darkfoxx 8: Leaving No Ass Unkicked Darkfoxx 8: Kicking All The Ass In 2014 Darkfoxx 8: Never Leave An Unkicked Ass Behind Ok, so I went off on a little tangent when trying to come up with the theme of this challenge cycle. My Die Hard references evaporated months ago, and I’m too lazy to look for awesome nerdy .gifs. So, tangent time. Like my girl and NF partner in crime Fonzico, this is my one-year nerdaversary as well. W00t W00t. <<< hey, lookee there, it’s a gif. Boom, bitchez. I can’t freakin believe I’ve stuck with this Nerd Fitness business for a year - a whole. freakin. year. And I’m not even ‘over it’ yet. This is pretty much unprecedented, and I have my merry band of constant friends to thank for it. Thanks guys for the support, the harassment, the ass kickings, the internet parties, the woots, and the loves — I totally wouldn’t still be on this journey if I had to go it alone. *ahem* Tough it up, there, Darkfoxx - enough of the mushy stuff and on with the show. Main Quest My overarching mega goal still hasn’t changed - I’m still pumped about doing Mudderella in May. This has been my goal to work toward for 3 challenges now, and I’d like to think that everything I have done in that time gets me a little closer to my goal of finishing all 5-7 miles without dying. I’m still nervous and excited about Mudderella - and I only have 5 months to go! Goal 1 Fitness. I’ll fully admit I’ve been a complete and utter slackass the last week of 2013/this first week of 2014. I finished last cycle (barely) - and then family came to town. Sure, we walked a bunch (I clocked 9 miles one day, with 3-something as my lowest day), but that’s all I did. And I ate like there was no tomorrow. Carbs akimbo. This week I’ve done exactly zero of the things. I nursed a cold and watched Twilight Zone. Twilight Zone isn’t going to help me get to Mudderella. Working out will. So, I’m going back to my old favorite - HasFit. I’ll be starting up the crazy intense Hero 90 program at the start of this challenge, and it will run me all through this cycle and the next. After this craziness, I’d *better* be able to Mudderella - it looks intense (in a good way). I’ve missed Coach K and it will be good to have him egging me on again. Goal 2 Metrics and Moar metrics. My diet has gotten away from me at the end of this year - hellooooo white potatoes - and I need to button that shit back up. Goals are the usual 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein and 1500 or so calories. I’m still doing My Fitness Pal - and I’m adding my new buddy - the FitBit Flex to the mix. Not only will I be tracking my food this go round, I’ll also be tracking water (again - I slipped on my water intake during our weeks off), sleep patterns, steps, and fitness minutes. Goal 3 Keep this ‘moving rapidly through space’ thing up a little. This can’t be a hard and fast goal. I know HasFit is going to completely kick my ass. I know it’s the middle of winter. But … I found myself actually enjoying going out and doing my Zombies, Run 5k trainer — even at 30 (or even 20) degrees. And I have the gear for it, so I’d like to keep it up. I will consider even one extra time out a success here. Week 3 has a prescribed 60 minutes of cardio (+ 6 minutes of abs) day - and I’ll definitely go out for that - the plan is to do 2 regular Zombies, Run missions for that workout. But I want a little more. I’m not sure when I’m going to pull this off - should it be on the day I do a 30-minute HIIT workout? after 20 minutes of MMA training? give up one of my coveted days off? It might kill me, but I’d like to do it once. And if I never feel like I can manage it? Well, that will be a shame, but I won't let it ruin my jam. Life Side Quest Address the DVD mess. I’ve been waaaaayyy too lazy to keep up with the semi-broken DVD storage solution I have (all DVDs stored in paper sleeves in an apothecary drawer chest in alphabetical order). I have tons of DVDs that need sleeving - and things need to be gone through to ensure everything is in order. Ideally, I need to come up with a new system that will actually allow me to figure out what all I have - but I’m not holding my breath for that one until I make the jump to all-digital storage. For now, I’d be happy with all my DVDs being safe and orderly. Fitness Side Quest The handstand craze from a couple of months ago sounds like fun. I think I’d like to work on that. No big pressure to perform here, I’d just like to give it a go during this challenge cycle. Starting Measurements (taken 01.02.14) Neck at narrowest: 12" (up 3/4" from last cycle start) Bust under breast: 31" (static) Waist at narrowest: 27.5" (up 1/2" from last cycle start) Hip at widest: 40" (static) Thigh at thickest: 20.5" (up 1/2" from last cycle start) Arm at widest: 10.5" (up 1/2" from last cycle start) Weight at wakeup: 123.9 lbs. (down 3 lbs. from last cycle start) Height: 5 ft. 2 3/4 inches (5’2†for measuring purposes) According to the FitBit scale, my BMI is: 22.67 (28.2% fat) - dead mid normal range According to calipers, my BMI is: 23.4 - mid-low ideal range

Damnit, I'm out of Die Hard movies to reference for my 'theme'. And my brain is broken this morning, so this shall forever henceforth be known as the challenge of no theme. -- I feel the need to kick things up a notch for this challenge. Last challenge, while I anticipated a hard go fraught with life changes, what I got turned out to be the status quo. So this challenge, even though things may change in an instant, I'm going to push myself harder. Main Quest I'm still working toward the long-term goal of participating in Mudderella this next Spring and then thinking about moving on to Tough Mudder next fall and still have quite a ways to go before I'm in the kind of physical shape that either takes. Support Goal 1 To this end, my main fitness goal for this challenge is to finish the HasFit Warrior 90 challenge I've been doing now for 8 weeks. I'm over half way done, and can totally see this to the finish line. After Warrior 90, I think I'll join my NF compatriots and pick up kettelbells. The hubs wants to get in on the kettelbell action, too, and wants to have a couple sessions with a trainer under our belts before we go off injuring ourselves. I think this is a wise plan. Support Goal 2 I've been doing so well with food metrics that I'd like to keep that up. And I want to add in some of the biohacker tips I learned about last time from Dave Asprey into the mix. Currently, I'm doing a trial run of the nootropic supplement Alpha Brain paired with GABA at night to see if I like either or even notice any difference. I'll be moving from that to Huperzine, and Huperzine to Bulletproof Coffee. And then combinations to see what, if anything, gives my brain a boost. I will also be adding in other supplements periodically and aim to track those as well. I also want to add a mechanism here for tracking overall tiredness with an eye toward figuring out why and what I can do about it. Am I over training? Am I not getting enough XXX? Is it how I sleep? Support Goal 3 Ummm...... help? I'm drawing a blank here. Mini challenges? Something else? Nope. Got it. Now I remember ... I was thinking of swiping Fonzico's pushup goal. So, like she says: Follow the NF 'How To Do A Proper Pushup' guide, which prescribes 4 sets of as many reps as possible 3x per week, increasing in difficulty when 20 per each of the 4 sets is reached. I will do the full run-through, starting with wall pushups and moving on to incline pushups and then regular pushups from there - and beyond. The article has links to a lot of really crazy variations that might be fun. This is of course on top of my regular HasFit workouts - I may need to add adjustments if HasFit kills my arms, but I will try not to. That Fonzico, what a lifesaver! Life-Related Side Quest As we all know, I love me some food. And writing about food. My blog looks pretty (in a clean, minimalist way) but isn't terribly user-friendly in the 'actually finding what you're looking for' sense. Since I have a few readers now, it's past time I do something about that. This side goal is to clean up and re-structure the recipe listings on my blog so they're user-friendly. I'm working with a Wordpress template here, so I'm anticipating aggravation. Diet/Fitness Side Quest Contact a trainer for kettelbells and actually go for 1-2 classes before starting without direction and injuring myself. This has the potential to turn into much drama.

Ok, so I had a nice set of four goals, and bam! They changed the rules. So… My goals for this cycle are jacked-up. Building on last cycle's life-disturbances, the force continues to be disturbed. This cycle may see me unemployed for an indeterminate amount of time, or it may see me in an office position where I have to *gasp!* leave the house and interact with humans IRL. So. Shit might be getting real, or my schedule might be thrust into some crazy shenanigans. Either/or. With all that in mind, I'm trying to build alternate choose-your-own-adventure paths into my goal settings while sticking to the new framework. Main Quest My main quest for the next few months is to chip away at building the fitness I need to participate in a big challenge event like Tough Mudder or Mudderella. I am most likely looking at sometime late summer/early fall 2014 for Tough Mudder and spring 2014 for Mudderella. Support Goal 1: Yada Yada Fitness Related Track #1 - If I can swing it and my schedule doesn't get completely jacked up, complete the Warrior 90 Challenge from HasFit. 5-6 days of working out per week will get me an A and on my way toward my goal. Track #2 - If my world does get turned upside down and I am forced out into the bright, bright light of day I intend to join a gym near my new place of employment. Actual classes or training sessions with actual people might be good for me. I also found a cray-cray bodyweight circuit I'm eager to try and kill myself with eventually. If picking this route, gym 5 days a week - either pre-set mudder/mudderella training circuits, trainer-assisted workouts to achieve the same goal, or classes that I think will help build strength + endurance. Track #3 - If I'm unemployed, aside from picking up a Skyrim habit, I need to do the Warrior 90 Challenge + break out some of the yoga lessons I purchased before I knew things were going to go sideways if physical endurance allows. 5-6 days of working out + yoga on top of all of that. Or jogging. My DH (dearest husband) has been trying to get me to run for 7 years now. I absolutely, positively abhor running - so much so I wouldn't even do it as a kid. tl;dr - warrior challenge, warrior challenge + yoga or gym: pick your adventure. Support Goal 2: Something Food Related One of my good friends wants someone to commiserate with while jumping into a Whole 30 Challenge. I love messing with my food intake ratios, so I'm in. We will most likely do this in August - prime beer + corn on the cob + lactose-free ice cream season. Be prepared for whining. Aside from the crazybananas, keep with the metrics (under 100g of fat, 80g or under of carbs for weight loss/ 100-150 grams is a fine active range, 70g or over of protein, 60oz. or over of water). I'm to the point with metrics that I either need to 'nut up or shut up' and I really need to make a more concerted effort to hit those goals to see if they actually *do* anything to my body. I've been doing great with the fat and water, have had mixed results with the protein, and consistently hit at around 130 for carbs - but I want to see if the lower limit of carbs works). A revamp of the morning smoothie might (sadly) be happening. Meat. This will help me move toward Mudder/ella by fueling my body to the best of its ability. Peak performance from peak fuel. Support Goal 3: Cut The Stress Looming unemployment, the possibility of not having a job to do, and the searching for a new job/rejection that goes along with it + the stress of actually starting at a new place are all going to take their toll on my mind and my body during this challenge cycle and I need to combat that. Be it through meditation, relaxing with some light yoga stretches, or doing something creative; I need to do something to manage the stress and anxiety in order to continue moving forward on my main goal. Stress ball = workout injuries galore = no advancing on my Main Quest goal. Life Quest - Find a damn job. Or start a damn job. Possibly learn how to interact with people again. Blergh. You can't see it, but I'm totally making the 'I don't wanna' face right now. The goal here is to find someone that will trade services for cash - and it will probably happen at a place of business, since I'm waaaayyyy too lazy to hound the internets for steady freelancing gigs. This goal will be either accomplished or not - I'll be plugging away with the resume sending and (hopefully) interviewing in the meantime. Diet/Fitness Side Quest - Metrics on Steroids My big overarching goal is diet and fitness related, but I want to throw something extra into the mix: I want to learn more about Dave Asprey's ideas on biohacking and to see if any of that can apply to my life. I'm not big on supplements (and he's a supplement junkie), but I'd still like to carve out the research. Also, I want to explore hemp proteins and maybe krill oil in my morning smoothie. Challenge Start Measurements Neck at narrowest: 11 3/4" Bust under breast: 30.5" Waist at narrowest: 28" Hip at widest: 41" Thigh at thickest: 19" Arm at widest: 11" Weight at wakeup: 131.3 Height: 5ft. 2 3/4 inches (5'2" for measuring purposes) According to my FitBit scale, my BMI is: 24.03% (mid-normal). According to the Navy's metrics, my BMI is: 34% (obese). According to a random simple online BMI tracker, my BMI is 24.0% (upper end of normal). And there you have it. Goals, goals, goals and more goals. FTW! Here's my motivation: