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I have been trying to opt for outside activities. Thinking of new fun things such as hiking in the woods fishing climbing and beachcombing. Feeling fatter than ever but choosing to ignore that voice. I've been trying to eat healthy. I had a great breakfast option of veggie omelet while on vacation. But need to focus on packing healthy snacks and eating at home more. But....I am meeting my goals of exercise, eating veggies everyday. Still need to work on the pray/meditate time. We get ourselves so busy in this world. Must slow down. We went jetty fishing and lots of hikes across the rocky beaches. Even walking on windy, sandy beaches is more exercise than you notice! Going to try to focus more on food intake. Do hard things!!

Considering the latest blog post, how are people going to get their families outside? It's Autumn here in Australia and the southern part where I live it's cold and raining right now! What's your favourite outside activity when it is miserable outside so play grounds are a no-go? (no one wants a wet bum from the slide!) The plus side is all the snakes will be in hibernation by now ha ha ha

Sorry for bigness When I first heard this song it really resonated with me. When I first joined the Rebellion, I was overweight, and insecure. Since then, not only have I become stronger physically, but I have developed and grown in many other ways too. These challenges are my fight song, I am going to fight to be a woman who is strong, who is overflowing with joy, and loves this adventure called life. My goals are my small, but very real ways of how I am continuing that journey. Goal #1 Track Food and Water on MFP- food tracked 6 days a week, water 5 days, goal for water is 64 oz Goal # 2 Morning routine- this is a return goal because I've let it slip a bit, and now that spring is here and mornings are so much easier it is time to tighten it. To do before breakfast: Bible, kitchen chores, stretching.After breakfast: if time read a chapter in book, then exercise.Also ; drink 12 oz of water in the morning. Goal #3 Finish Road Trip Scrapbook Adventures- The idea isn't to do all of these. They are just a reminder of all the wonderful opportunities I have to do besides watching TV or Facebook. Some I am consistently working on, others may be spur of the moment. Cook using a new recipe Bake something new Try a new food Go for a picnic Do hill sprints Run in the park Run on a trail Find a new trail Find a new hidden spot Eat at a new restaurant 2 x this month do some jungle clearing( aka greenbelt in backyard) Make a parkour balance rail Make a sand bag Do yoga/stretching outside Say hello to a new person Learn how to start a fire Look into what it would take to start a Neighborhood Watch program Do a geocache puzzle Find 3 hikes Find 2 fun local things to do Volunteer somewhere Look at travel blogs recommended in Level Up Your Life Memorize Philippians 1:1-15 at verse 13 Finish Desiring God by John Piper about half way done Read a biography cut apart a whole chicken learn how to start a fire

This challenge will be all about rainbows. And cats, but of course everything on the internet is about cats, so therefore this is a rainbow challenge. Anyway, rainbows are awesome: - they have many colours - they are formed like an arch - they are outside - they are very science-y I want my life to be more like a rainbow! Therefore, my goals for the next challenge are: 1. Cook with colourful vegetables and fruits, at least 14 different ones, 2 for each colour of the rainbow. Instead of blue and indigo, I can use any colour I want. So at least 2 red, orange, yellow, green and purple fruits and vegetables, and at least 14 in total. The ulterior goal here is to keep eating varied foods. 2. Practice bridges every day. Bridges are a great show-off and cool trick, they also might be good for back-mobility. I will also do one auxiliary exercise every day, mostly to help with upper back mobility and wrist strength. Lastly, before and after pictures are mandatory . 3. Walk/cycle for fun once a week. I used to enjoy going outside for a walk or cycle route, but I keep giving myself excuses why I don't do it anymore lately. No more! One route of at least 30 minutes every week. Berry picking sessions do count though . 4. Do something science-y every week. I need to keep expanding my knowledge to feel fulfilled, and with my PhD I'm just learning more about a relatively small subject. Possible activities: - read a peer-reviewed paper that's not from my field - read a chapter of a book at undergrad level, not from my field - work on advanced programming techniques, testing, or other computer science skills for at least 1 hour - solve a project Euler puzzle Scoring Each goal will get a percentage in the end. Grades are given based on these percentages: 100% A+, 90-100% A, 80-90% B, 70-80% C, <70% F. Have a nice challenge!

THE THREADS ARE UP ALREADY?! Dang it! That means it's time to get to work-Oh wait this doesn’t start until June 8th…Oh well! I’m posting this anyways! Ya’ll probably know who I am already. If not WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I'm BlackTezca, a generally loud, gif addicted, game addicted, movie addicted, anime-addicted, whatever addicted big old NERD. I already have my fourth challenge ready to go, though thanks to the longer break, I have some time to think on this challenge and tweak it before it starts. However, pretty sure this is how it’ll go! Just in case some of you are crazy enough to forget about me; I have several lovely links of my exploits, including my introductory From Lurker to (Newb) Rebel!, the interim and still awesome BlackTezca's Daily Battle Towards Feline Greatness, and of course the latest platinum selling hit BlackTezcas' 3rd Trial: An Artsy, Geeky Amazon Must FIGHT...In STYLE! Of course, all of these challenge are just working up to the final goal. The award that is nearing ever so closer to me, the glowing light at the end of the tunnel… My Main Quest is to be as POWERFUL and BATTLE READY as Wonder Woman So now that have that out of the way, let’s get down to business and check out my planned Side Quests!! This time I’m getting creative with names . You know...actually using my theme instead of having an excuse for more gifs! Fight Like Kamui: Do a kickboxing workout twice a week, preferably with Easton. Details: It’s time to get a bit more serious about kickboxing! Since I have a school, I need to utilize it as well as practice what I learn! Now, just in case something happens (class is CANCELLED for instance, basement renovation takes over EVERYTHING, etc), I will also do kickboxing workout at home to make up for it. I do aim for two classes a week, but I’ll keep myself sane and flexible for this instead. Contingencies: No Contigencies: Since I am counting the kickboxing workouts I do at home, this gives me a little more flexibility if I miss one of the two days I want to give myself for kickboxing in class. I should be able to make at least one class per week as well. Tracking: I'll be tracking the workouts using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) and this lovely thread will be updated as well. Grading: A for Kickboxing Workouts twice a week (one must be a class) ( 3 Dex 2 Str ) B for Kickboxing Workouts once a week (must be a class) ( 2 Dex 1 Str ) F for all else Don’t Eat like Gintoki: Don’t binge! Don’t eat a crap ton of sweets! CHEAT LESS! Details: Ugh…so… I guess it’s’ time to be mindful ALL days of the week. I have been a bit more lenient on myself last challenge since I didn’t have a food quest, but that has slowed down progress and since I already workout 5 to 6 times a week, an hour each workout (or more) and I now do kickboxing, that means watching my fooding and drinking. Both of which I love but need to be kept in check. Using a combo of MFP and this handy calculator with this IIFYM calculator, I have calculated that I need to eat about 1467 (aggressive weight loss) to 1834 (maintaining) calories a day to lose a pound of week as someone in between moderately active to very active. That is quite doable. Throwing more from IIFYM, I need to eat 148 - 239 carb grams, 103 protein grams, 52 fat grams, and 26 - 32 fiber grams a day. I'll keep those values in mind while I’ll again aim for eating below the carb and sugar limit on MFP (ESPECIALLY YOU SUGAR) while not caring if I go above my fat (even the 52 fat limit) and protein limit (which I hardly do, thus I need more protein). The hard part is…I will aim to do this EVERY DAY OF THIS CHALLENGE, giving myself a few days where realistically I may bingecheat (Top Taco Denver Festival. Tacos. Tequila. I’m screwed that day). Contingencies: This always has contingencies. I need to be flexible in how much calories I allow. To maintain, I calculated that I need about 1936 calories a day as a moderate to very active short woman, which is a fair amount of calories. If I eat to that amount or slightly over (2100) and I’m not like crazy over my sugar, I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. However, I know I tend to eat sweets and drink more during the ‘cheat’ days I give myself and thus I go WAY over that. Therefore, I need to be quite mindful when I’m out and about. A lot more than I have been. Tracking: I'll be tracking the food and cheats using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) and this lovely thread will be updated with my diet changes and plans. Grading: A for <= 6 Cheat days this challenge ( 2 Con 1 Wis) B for <= 8 Cheat days this challenge ( 1 Con 1 Wis) C for <= 10 Cheat days this challenge ( 1 Con ) F for all else Sleep like Sogo: ENFORCE THE SLEEP POLICY Details: So a while back, I enforced a sleep policy: My alarm for the morning starts at 6 am. If I’m not in bed by 11:15 pm, the alarm is set to 6:15 am. If I am still not in bed by 11:30 pm, the alarm is set to 6:30 am, etc. For each 15 minute chunk I am not in bed, the alarm is moved later to the morning by a 15 minutes. Thus I have a moving, flexible sleep policy which is working better than trying to enforce a bedtime. I still want to get up earlier, but this is flexible and thus better than a bedtime. Contingencies: No contingencies. I need the bloody sleep. It must be enforced. Tracking: This thread only. Not sure how to track it elsewhere for accountability Grading: A for 28 to 31 days of enforcement ( 2 Con 1 Cha) B for 25 to 27 days of enforcement ( 2 Con ) C for 22 to 24 days of enforcement ( 1 Con ) F for all else Don’t be like Housen: GO OUTSIDE! SMELL THE ROSES! Details: Housen is not a fun of the sun, being a Yato, and is kinda dick for it. I work out a lot inside and I don’t really do a ton of outdoor activities. I’m not taking about just fitness, but even fun stuff like check out festivals, or explore a park, take a hike, etc. So I’m making this my life quest for the challenge. I would like to do some kind of activity (short walk, visit an outdoor event, etc) at least three times a week in the outdoors. Contingencies: THE WEATHER! If it’s down pouring every day of the week, of course I won’t go outside cause I won’t have the sun. This is unfortunate and out of my control. I hope that I have most days that are beautiful to really enjoy this life quest. Tracking: I'll be tracking the outdoor activities using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) and this lovely thread! Grading: A for 3 days a week of SUNSHINE ( 1 Con 1 Sta ) B for 2 days a week of SUNSHINE ( 1 Sta ) F for all else Practice like Shinpachi: Shinpachi practices his sword art (sometimes. He’s still a weak fighter) and I need to practice on some artsy stuff! Identify five items to improve upon when it comes to art. Practice (sketch, full painting, etc) on those items! Details: There are a few things I noticed in my art that need some work. HANDS! I HATE HANDS! I HATE EM! But I need to work on them Poses! Sometime I use the same boring static poses. I want to work on dynamism in my characters. Perspective. Ugh…this sucks. I need to work on this though. Along with adding dynamism in poses, I need to practice some perspective in backgrounds and sizes, and etc. Varying character designs. I have a lot of SAME face going on in my work. Need to work on this. Speed. I’m slow. I simply take too long with some of my pieces. I need to speed up on my work. So this would be a good time to do some 15 to 30 minute prompt work.Contingencies: Well this time I’ll be practicing on some of my weaknesses, so I’ll be doing more sketching work than actual painting which should take up less time. This will be more than just weekly practice depending on the topic of the week. Hopefully nothing blocks me or brings me down so I can keep at it. Tracking: I have an art Tumblr and I also have a DeviantArt (WATCH ME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY). I'll use those for tracking and on a weekly basis...like a weekly update or something, I'll post art on this thread. Though for this challenge, considering it’s sketch work, maybe more often than weekly. Grading: A for 5 items practiced, denoted by at least 1 sketch piece per item ( 2 Wis, 1 Cha ) B for 4 items practiced, denoted by at least 1 sketch piece per item ( 2 Wis ) C for 3 items practiced, denoted by at least 1 sketch piece per item ( 1 Wis ) F for all else Here are my beginning measurements for this challenge! This may change by June 8th, but hey, that might a mean a bigger loss in some inches or partial inches! I’m down for that! Starting Measurements: Date: 05/23/2015 @ 11am Weight: 130.6 ***Body Fat***: 24.91 Waist: 23.5 Waist @ Navel: 24 Hips: 35.5 Neck: 12 Chest: 33 Left Bicep: 10 Right Thigh: 16.5 Wrist: 6 Forearm: 9 This is a jam packed challenge! I’m back to five side quests! The art challenge is a little lighter this time around, which is good, cause once again that was one of the tougher quests! However despite how ‘easy’ the art quest seems, I make up for it in that food quest…UGH!! I must fight back everyday against my urges to binge on sugar and decrease the cheat days. That will be quite hard considering several factors (Top Taco Denver, MIL’s birthday along that same week), but as long I can be mindful of my eating, I should be fine). I’m a little bit scared though. Just a tad. … WISH ME LUCK!!!!

Spring is here, I have been outside in a t-shirt to prove it. I have a holiday in week 4 that I'm hellbent on spending in a tent somewhere, so an outdoorsy challenge sounds like just the job. Overall life-goal: Become a physically capable ecologist. Goal 1: Diet I'm bad at sticking to something for six weeks, so I'm taking a suggestion from LadyShello and Deftona and mixing it up this time for the food goal with three mini-goals, all revolving around removing unnecessary rubbish of some description, and increasing intake of good things. Weeks 1 and 2: Buy no food in plastic/metal/glass packaging whatsoever. So, loose freggies, and any loose nuts that I can stick in a paper bag. Food I already have in my cupboard right now is fine. A concession of two packs of pretend meat in week 2, but only if I've run out. Flour/sugar can be found in paper bags but I'm calling that cheating. Weeks 3 and 4: New plan! Iron Age Britain is too wheaty and meaty, really. So during week 3 and 4, I instead have to eat at least one meal a day with five natural colours in it. So, could be chilli with purple beans, red tomato, yellow peppers, green courgettes and, er, grey mushrooms. Or could be a fruit smoothie with yellow pineapple, orange... orange, green kiwi, red strawberry and white natural yoghurt. Five shades of yellowy-browny-beige don't count (sorry, four cheese pizza) unless they're freggies. Parsnip, yellow pepper, turnip, chickpea and mushroom curry would be fine. [Old Plan: Eat at least one meal a day that consists of food you'd have found in Iron Age Britain. Lots of research needed, which should be fun, but also guarantees there won't be nachos and there will probably be at least mushrooms. It's for fun, not experimental archaeology, so the modern varieties of freggies are allowed. And if I can cite a reference of it being found in Iron Age Britain, I can eat it. There was once an Irish king who was given a baboon as part of a trade deal, according to Time Team, so chances are I can eat the odd fig. Might even throw in some wild food since wild garlic's coming into season. It smells strongly of garlic. Oddly enough.] Weeks 5 and 6: Bring a homemade packed lunch to work every day that contains at least two portions of freggies. Sweet chilli sauce, avocado, mango and marinated tofu is much better than a sad supermarket sandwich. +3 Con for healthy eating, +2 Wis for learning new things Goal 2: Exercise Straightforward. Have to exercise at least three times a week, and it has to be outside. Could be walking to/from work, could be doing conservation volunteering, could be going for a hike. I love lifting, but I want to find a way to build up strength that also improves my stamina and my ability to lug bits of timber about up hills. Best way to do that is, I guess, to lug bits of timber about up hills. So signing up for conservation volunteering is a priority. I am excited for week 4, because I might even have the opportunity to swim outside. +2 Str, +2 Sta Goal 3: Self-Care A compound goal, breaking down into: - Drink at least a litre of water a day - No caffeine after 7pm - Take care of skin (put coconut oil on stretch marks 3x a week, face clean and moisturised every day, exfoliate once a week) +1 Cha for feeling more confident, +1 Con for feeling more capable. Life Goal: Lighten up the backpack Moving house in July; would rather have a lot less stuff. Would also rather have some more money from selling said stuff. - I have shelves of precious bookspace devoted to classics I've never read; they will be read and sold or unread and sold but sold they shall be, so I can put the rest of my Pratchett books somewhere I can see them. - I have a huge drawer full of papers from university. The sentimental-or-scientific-value ones (old assignments, journal article printoffs) will be scanned/kept, the rest are going out. Same for half-filled notebooks. - Craft projects: Some can be finished, others will be binned or unravelled. Some finished craft projects could be sold. Small crafting materials I keep since that's an investment. Large things like fabrics will either be used or sold. - Kitchen and homebrewing whatever: Make that beer. Drink that beer. Then decide whether it was worth it, and either go forth and make more beer or sell the flaming beer vat. Weed out silly kitchen things that take up space ad contribute nothing. I'm looking at you, boiled egg moulds. - Clothes: clothes. +4 Charisma for sheer ruthlessness; a whole 4 points because I find this hard. Not in a letting-things-go way, in a procrastination way, or not wanting to have wasted money. (Seriously though, Sarah, if you don't want to waste money, don't buy seven metres of tacky polyester satin in the first place.) Recording: Via HabitRPG; they're mostly did do/didn't do kinds of tasks. Weekly summaries as well. Prep: - Sign up for conservation volunteering - Make a list of the loose freggies in the supermarket - Find recipes that fit those freggies. - Tidy room so there is an organised place in which to rifle through things. - Freeze gym membership - DONE. Right, let's get cracking, then!

Priscillia Keeps It Simple Don't worry, we'll get to the dragons next time (I hope)... I'm not feeling very creative in the challenge front, all I want is to cement some stuff from last challenge and take advantage of the gorgeous weather while I sort through some life/adulting crap. For the Soul Take a walk, run, bodyweight workout, play in the jungle gym, just SOMETHING outside once per week 'Cause being cooped up inside sucks. It's actually pretty and decent temperature wise, so I want to go outside. It'll also bring back some habits from a previous challenge last year (before the snow really hit). For the Mind Daily Meditation (1-5 minutes, preferably first thing in the morning) Try to be positive I found that daily meditations (esp in the mornings) have made my work days so much nicer. Unless I'm doing a yoga class with meditation time, this is EVERY DAY. I will also try to be positive about stuff, because the other people I live with aren't. Also because when you're being positive it attracts opportunities (this one won't be tracked, but I feel like I need to at least write it down to slooooowly start). For the Body 1 soda at home per week max 1 treat from the work kitchen per week Drink tea like a madwoman (okay, and water ) I've realized last challenge that I don't drink much soda at work (in fact it's tea, hot chocolate (if I'm on a bender) and mainly water) so I won't preoccupy myself with that. Work treats in the kitchen are a different story. Same for soda at home, though I now have this 2L ice tea (like, made with loose leaf teas) jug at home I'm digging. Boss Battle: The Garage Start going through storage stuff in my Dad's garage I'm going to be moving out sometime this year (I hope), so I need to get rid of stuff that just doesn't mesh with me any more. I also need to find out what I DO have so I can cover more bases. MOTIVATION To feel better, more energetic and stronger. To regain control and not let the crazies affect me. To start the next chapter in my life on a good base to build upon.

So winter is cold and dark and damp and nearly here, but rather than complain about it, let's prepare the perfect antidote: a proper campfire! We will need 5 things for the campfire: get outside atmospheric music collect firewood collect food light the fire Conveniently (or by design ) these correspond to the 5 things that I'll be working on this challenge. In previous challenges I've set myself targets that I have no idea how to achieve (and subsequently fail), so this time I have a concrete plan for each one: Challenge #1: get outside: GYMNASTICS RINGS: For an excuse to get outside during the dark season, I've bought myself a set of rings to play with, and intend to spend the rest of 2014 experimenting with these. I have no specific plans, but I have a dynamic list of things I want to play with and work on. Here is a picture of me struggling to maintain a support hold: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/uploads/gallery/album_1020/gallery_25753_1020_594416.jpg I'll be grading this subjectively, with consideration given to: volume and intensity of training variety of experimentation improvement made effort made to make my environment good for training (e.g. warm-ups, new locations, social involvement) Total points available: STR +2; WIS +2 Challenge #2: atmospheric music: FINISH CURRENT PIANO COMPOSITION: I haven't done an artistic challenge before, so let's try this... I often compose piano music, but haven't released anything for a while. Here's something I wrote about one year ago: At the moment, there are a few new ideas floating around my mind, so I'm going to craft some of it into a new musical piece. Usually this takes me way longer than it should, so this will help me waste less time! Grading subjectively, where to get 'C' I must have a finished piece and to get an 'A' I must be really pleased with the result. Total points available: CHA +3 Challenge #3: fetch firewood: LEARN OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING: On my recent holiday to Singapore, a friend taught me the Clean and Jerk (from Olympic weightlifting). This would surely be useful for picking up and carrying large logs for firewood (especially if they happen to be shaped like perfect barbells...) but the snatch would be faster. The challenge is to become reasonably competent at both types of Olympic weightlifting so that I can use them in the future for strength training. A: get good at both the clean and jerk and the snatch B: get good at the snatch only C: - D: get good at the clean and jerk only I'll achieve this by reading some snatch tutorials, practising safely, and reviewing form with someone. Total points available: DEX +2 Challenge #4: collect food: BENCH + PRESS >= 100KG: We need to do a whole lot more lifting of firewood before we can relax around the campfire, and this will be in the form of increasing my bench press and overhead press to be 100kg in total. This was in my very first challenge, during which I got injured on the bench press Since then, I've hit 56kg on bench and 40kg on OHP, before taking a month away from relevant training. A: 100kg total B: 98kg total C: 96kg total (i.e., get back to previous best form) D: 94kg total Total points available: STR +2; STA +2 Challenge #5: light the fire: STAY WARM DURING WINTER: When it's cold my body basically shuts down (too little body fat) and I don't do any moving or thinking, so I should prevent that from happening. Steps to achieve this: eat enough to stay warm wear more layers use strength training to warm me up Sounds simple, but I'm super bad at this. Grading subjectively. Total points available: CON +2

âWe can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.âž William Arthur Ward MAIN QUEST Lose 70lbs.Starting weight (Jan. 15th): 208.6lbs Current weight (May 12th): 190.1lbs Total Lost: 18.5lbs (27% of goal) I started the paleo lifestyle on January 15th. I will continue on eating right and nourishing my body. THREE GOALS Practice yoga or meditation at least 3x per week / +2 STA, +1 STR, +1 WIS, +1 DEX Consume 72oz of water each day (tracked by app "waterlogged") / +3 CON Continue with my exercises (bodyweight squats, overhead press, deadlifts, bench press) and gym visits / +2 STR, +2 CHALIFE QUEST(S) Spend a lot more time outside: now that it's getting warmer I wish to spend more time outside. It can be hiking, geocaching, doing yoga, or just relaxing outside enjoying the sunshine / +1 WIS, +1 CONSave as much as I can: from now until the end of May I am only scheduled to work 3 shifts (that can change, but I doubt it) as I have applied to Master's programs that start mid-May. I need to save as much as I can for the summer, and spend what I have wisely / +1 WISMY MOTIVATION / THE 'WHY?' Stop throwing stones and start building with them: For the last two years I feel I have really grown as a person. Two years ago I was stuck in a loveless relationship and as horrible as it was, the real tragedy was how much I actually gradually began hating myself for sticking with it. I was my own worst enemy, and I was throwing stones at myself and my dreams instead of breaking out of the harmful relationship. My confidence fell, and I didn't apply myself in anything: my job, school applications, studying to succeed at the MCAT, and so on and so forth. I began building back my self confidence after the relationship ended, but it was a hard and rocky road back to self-love. When I finally loved myself again, I allowed myself to find love. Now I am in a very supportive, nurturing, and loving relationship and looking to "build" upon my confidence even further. I have been setting positive goals for myself - like getting healthier, treading lighter, and finding new hobbies. Slow and steady wins the race, and I am determined to focus on, and spread, positivity along the way. I will try to post daily updates here (food I am eating, my water consumption, yoga sessions, etc). I will also have a "daily challenge" that I will post, because every single day something can be completed or worked on, and I need to start holding myself accountable!