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Here we have it. I turn 48 on November 2nd. We have Halloween (My youngest doesn't care), and then my Birthday. My Dad's is on the 8th, but he is in another state. November 19th is the release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl! Thanksgiving is on the 25th of November here in the USA. All the things! During this challenge, it looks like my wife will be going in for surgery as well. She is getting the gastric bypass. She did have some other surgery years ago, but it didn't seem like they did much. There is also a stomach hernia they are removing. She'll be in the hospital for 2 to 3 days. Plus covid stuff, we probably won't be able to visit. We had planned to travel to my Sister-in-law's place for Thanksgiving, but who knows now. Lots in the air to get sorted. A side note, my wife will have to go on a liquid diet asap. Two weeks before surgery. Then 2 after surgery. She moves to soft foods after that. We have been starting to prepare, but this did just pop up suddenly. I don't think she will go in on surgery on my birthday, but will probably be going in on the 16th. We she was first trying to get things going, I toyed with the idea of doing the liquid diet with her. For support, but I would probably drop some quick pounds haha. Most likely, I won't be eating this way. So, it's not a challenge if there isn't lots of stuff in the air haha. I'm still going to attempt some goals. Hopefully, nothing gets too overwhelming. I can always adjust if I need. Time to build off of my previous challenge. Goal #1 - Make sure I get my rest Last week of challenge was a bit rough for sleep, and I haven't been super consistent this week as well. My goal is to get back to what I was doing. It just helps to give me the best chance at a successful day. Off to read at 10:30 PM. Then off to bed at 11:30 PM. In the morning, I need to wake up, and get ready. I usually give myself a little room for off to read, and off to bed. Going 1 point for each thing. 3 points per day, 21 points for the week. Goal #2 - Control food intake with tracking This will be the continuation from last challenge. Track each day in Cronometer, and don't go over calorie limits. This time I am going to be more strict. Like if I say 2500 is the limit, then 2501 is a fail. 2500 is pretty close to where I should be at. I think even 2300 might be better. First things first though, lets see if I can get a week of under 2500 calories. 2 points for tracking, 3 points for hitting calorie numbers each day. 35 points each week. Goal #3 - Walking with a side of workouts I got out and walked quite a bit last challenge. Much more then I had previously. I did max out at 20 minutes, but I can do more. Though, I don't want to just make it a time of moving. I might go on longer walks to play Pokemon Go. Then I don't have to worry if a stop to battle a raid or something. There also might be times to just do a warm up before actually working out. Yes, I said workouts. I want to start getting stronger again. The long time from now goal of doing a pull up is still there. Might as well start working on it again. I see this goal getting the most adjustments over the challenge. Hopefully, all in increasing things Week 0, I need to find, and finalize what I plan to do for workouts. I have my old workout spreadsheet I can pull from. My complex has a gym. Not the greatest thing ever. Lots of dumbells at least, and one machine that can do lots of different exercises. Also plenty of cardio stuff there. It's starting to get colder, and a few sprinkles of rain have been starting up. Week 1 I want to walk 5,000 steps each day. I also want to workout 3 times a week with one being in the gym. Workouts can be as low as 1 set of something this week. I mainly want to get myself doing the things, and start building it back up. If I do more, great! 3 points per day reaching step goal. 5 point for each workout done. 36 points each week. Goal #4 - Time to get through my cards and comics Part of a previous challenge, was getting things out of storage. We did get all the stuff out, and now I have boxes and boxes of cards. I also have comics too. The comics I need to organizes, and get bags and boards on the ones that are not done. All my sports cards need to be gone though. My Brother stole a ton of stuff from me back in the day. I need to see what I might have left. I know a lot of them are straight garbage cards. Like zero value. The problem for now, is they are taking up a lot of space. I need to sort out ones I will keep for now, then get rid of all the rest. It's just time consuming to go though some of them. I have a bit, but not nearly enough. I'll go with needing to go through 2 big boxes a week, or equal of the small sizes. 8 points a week Week total points: Week 1 (10/24 - 10/30) - 0/100 Week 2 (10/31 - 11/06) - 0/100 Week 3 (11/07 - 11/13) - 0/100 Week 4 (11/14 - 11/20) - 0/100 Week 5 (11/21 - 11/27) - 0/100 Challenge total points - 0/500 Measurements - Start / Finish (coming day 1) Chest - Waist - Bicep (L) - Bicep (R) - Thigh (L) - Thigh (R) - Weight - 364.1 lbs

Hey all, I am back to attempt a challenge. I didn't participate in the last challenge. I ended up bowling in my yearly USBC Open Tournament. This year (and next) is in Las Vegas. I totally was unprepared for it, but did much better then I expected I just didn't have it in me to get in on a challenge too. Life is a bit hectic. I've been struggling. 2018, keto was an absolute awesome thing for me. I've tried to get back to it. Sometimes it seems successful, but then it all comes crashing down. This challenge, I really want to see if I can just eat in a certain calorie range. Though, I still want to be healthier still of course. I just want to be able to eat whatever fruit I may want etc. So I really just want to focus on tracking again, with a set amount of calories. Of course, I really want to drop weight super fast. I think that really has not worked well though. I mean, I lost like 110 or 120 pounds in 2018. Struggled in 2019, then full blown gain everything back early 2020. Way back in 2013/2014 was a similar weight trip for me. Of course, it was a quick bounce back. So as much as I want to lose all the weight, I really thing I just need to focus more on a slower weight loss. Also working to just get myself better with exercise. All the things to work together will get me losing weight. So let's see if I can just get this started up. There will be a caveat here too. Like I said, life is a bit hectic. Wife might be losing her job (most likely). So she will be looking for work I assume during her transition out. Nothing confirmed yet, but there will be more Monday. With that, it is certainly time that need to get back out there, and get some work. I've been stay at home Dad since 2010, so no clue what I would even try for. This challenge could just totally implode, and I have to rethink the goals depending on what all happens. Goal#1 - Tracking, plus under 2500 calories. In the past I thought about 2300 calories was were I wanted to be at when I was eating keto. I'll have to monitor things to see if I need to adjust things up or down for calories. For now though, I want to target 2500. Preferable +/- 99ish. I don't want to under eat too. I'll track everything in Chronometer. 7 days a week. 10 points per day. 70 points total Goal#2 - Move more One thing for sure, I need to get out walking at the bare minimum. I felt that for sure when I was bowling. Day 2 I was bowling 6 games. I was running on fumes those last 3 games. Even less then fumes haha. To start, I am going to walk for 30 minutes each day. By the end of this challenge, I would like to be walking twice a day for 30 minutes, or an hour walk. Plus I want to be working out. Just body weight workouts, or all at homes style workouts. Week 1 I start with walking for 30 minutes (more is fine too). Week 2 I continue the walking. Week 3 I added in workouts with the walking. Week 4 is working out with more walking. Add in the second walk, or longer first walk. At least for a few of the days. Week 5, I get it all together. 7 days a week. Week 1/2 - 10 points a day. 70 points on the week. Week 3/4/5 - 70 points for walking each week. 40 points for workouts each week. (3 to 4 still need to figure it out) 110 points on the week. Goal#3 - Please go to bed! What do you know, I need to get myself in a sleep challenge again. Oddly enough, I've been staying up late reading. Before it was playing games, watching videos. I have been trying to work on getting to bed at a good time, but I haven't nailed it. I've gotten into a few books, and just would sit here reading for 3 to 4 hours. Suddenly, it's 3:30 in the morning haha. So no more "Just one more chapter" or "one last video" I want to get back to 10:30 PM to get off the computer or whatever, and get to reading. Then, head off to bed at 11:30 PM. 7 days a week, 10 points a day. 70 points for the week. Goal#4 - Chores and downsize Part of my move more is going to get into getting chores routine again, and clearing through things. Too many things in this apartment that we really just need to get rid of. We have a storage unit too that we should make our way through, and get rid of it. Less bills are good. Each day, I need to get cat boxes cleaned out, and dishes done. I need to spend at least one hour during the week on downsizing. I think it will be much more then that, but I just need a smaller time frame to just get started 10 points each day for the chores. 70 on the week. 50 points a week for the downsizing. (I really want to get though some things) 120 total points each week Total challenge points: Week 1 (6/20 - 6/26) - 0/330 Week 2 (6/27 - 7/03) - 0/330 Week 3 (7/04 - 7/10) - 0/370 Week 4 (7/11 - 7/17) - 0/370 Week 5 (7/18 - 7/24) - 0/370 Measurements - First day / Last day Chest - 55.98 in / Waist - 62.51 in / (L) Bicep - 17.83 in / (R) Bicep - 17.00 in / (L) Thigh - 30.78 in / (R) Thigh - 29.33 in / Weight (lbs) - 370.8 /

TL:DR version: This is my own adaptation on the "Walk to Mordor and Back Again" thread which can be found here: https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/105502-walk-to-mordor-and-back-again-2018/. Major props to Charlomechfry for their hard work to and from Mordor. I'm following along. I'm going to run a lot. I'm going to track my progress and post random facts to motivate myself to exercise more. My rules / baselines are below. Long version: "Pokemon Red’s map isn’t based on present-day Tokyo, it’s based on the pre-sprawl Tokyo of the 1960s. The towns that are connected by forests and rivers in the Pokemon world are connected by concrete and bullet trains in our world." (Brad O'Farrell, https://www.polygon.com/2015/4/10/8339935/pokemon-new-york-tokyo-paris") I used to play the Pokemon games religiously as a child; but it wasn't until I was almost ready to graduate college for the first time that I realized every town in the Pokemon red, blue, and yellow series of games is based off of a real-world location in Japan. Take Pallet Town for example. Pallet Town is based off of Satoshi Taijri's hometown from the 1960's (see below). I then thought to myself "If every town in the video game is based off of a real-world location, and it takes a little more than two hours to complete the game, how long would it actually take walking from one town to the next in the real world?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I put a couple of weeks worth of effort into studying Google Maps and Bulbapedia and deduced that it would take a person an approximate distance of 907 km (563.5 mi) to cover Pallet Town (Shizuoka City) all the way to Fuchsia City (Tateyama City) covering the same storyline (minus side quests) covered in the video game. More to come on how I calculated all of this. The official city wikipedia page states that Taijri based the fictional Pallet Town off of Machida City where he grew up as a child. On the same note, Bulbapedia.com states that Pallet Town corresponds to Shimoda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan in the real world. Shimoda City Pallet Town 0 Hakone Town Viridian City 90.1 km Okuchichibu Mts. Viridian Forest 99.5 km Maebashi City Pewter City 99.8 km Mount Akagi Mt. Moon 19.6 km Tsuchiura City Cerulean City 125.0 km Yokohama City Vermilion City 96.3 km Tsuchiura City Cerulean City 96.3 km Mt. Fuji Rock Tunnel 38.2 km Narita City Lavender Town 78.8 km Shinjuku City Celadon City 62.9 km Marunouchi Saffron City 7.0 km Shinjuku City Celadon City 7.0 km Tateyama City Fuchsia City 86.5 km Oshima Island Cinnabar Island 0.0 ? Indigo Plateau 0.0 This journal is meant to keep me motivated to exercise. A blend of the old with the new. A new take on the video games I loved and left behind years ago.

RPG's Blasting off Again! I mentioned last challenge that I was debating a respawn. New name and everything. Decided to keep the name, but letting the Star Wars theme rest for a little bit. Going with a Pokemon theme instead since I've lately been playing Pokemon Go and have been replaying the 3DS games lately. I will admit I spent more time playing with the sprites than brainstorming challenge goals, I guess that's what week 0 is for? 🤣 My workplace is not yet closed due to COVID-19 (part of the exceptions to shelter in place mandate), but my role should allow me to work remotely the majority of the time. I plan to WFH as often as possible because this is pretty frightening and the local cases continue to rise & creep closer to home. Stay safe, follow social distancing and wash your hands friends! Post-Week 1 Goals ReFrame: Objective: Daily update/ check-in. (+1 point daily) Themes: 1) Healthy Sleep Schedule - When did I go to bed / wake up. Do I feel rested or was it difficult to get out of bed? 2) Daily Movement - Continue daily 1+ mile dog walks because those are awesome. Also post any additional movement type stuff done. 3) Alcohol - Report back how I did with the following: Wait until after drinking 1.5 L water (Y/N) Wait until after 5PM (my time... not 5 o'clock somewhere ) (Y/N) Did I drink 0.5 L between each alcoholic drink (Y/N) # Alcoholic drinks 4) Mindfulness - Mention one thing that made me happy today Still the same goals, but a different / more mindful approach (I think, at least...). Less of a "If I don't follow, I will mentally beat myself up" and more of a "1% better every day" approach. Loot (25+ Points): Sloth keeps talking about kettlebells and now I kind of want one. What's a good starter weight to mix in with bodyweight training??? Was looking at these: https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-kettlebells but any other recommendations (easily available in the US) are welcome! Archived Goals:

Hey, maybe back after some life changes, enjoy pink pokemon n such. Make art like Wigglytuff! This means getting up early enough to practice trumpet on the daily, and keep a daily word count of 200 for writing. This also means keep my fucking german up, on duolingo for now. Make healthy like Blissey! This means getting 7 hours of sleep every night, and meditating on the daily. Shitpost like Clefable!

This is a fun way for those of us who are interested in doing a long term challenge. We will set goals that last for twelve weeks, keep each other accountable, and encourage one another. This first week is to think through your goals, and to have a practice run if you want. The official start date is May 27th. Gotta Catch 'Em All! For this 12 Week Challenge your goal will be to see how many Pokémon you can collect. You will earn points each week. The more points you earn , the more Pokémon you will find. Here is the set Up: You can have one or more goals. Each goal is counted on it's own. So for example you could earn 100 points for goal 1 and 50 for goal 2. In the spreadsheet, record each goal Before the challenge; Write out your goal. Think through the plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be 12 weeks from now. How are you going to get there? What is a good, sustainable plan, that you can do weekly that will help you be where you want in 12 weeks? During the challenge: Each week check in: How was your progress last week? What went well? What could you improve? What tasks do you need to accomplish in the upcoming week to win the week? Each week you will evaluate whether you finished at least 80% of what you said would be a winning week. 80% or more completion earns you points Other notes: There are points awarded for improving. If you struggled last week , but improve this week, you get points. This is to help us with the long term mindset. Long term mindset means that if one week (or two) doesn't go as planned, that's fine, as long as we get back to it, we can still accomplish a bunch. Points are also awarded as long as you complete 80% or more.of your weekly goal. You may wonder why not say 100%. For me, it is part of the long term mindset. If my goal is 100% for the week, and something happens, and I know I won't complete, I'm likely to just give up. But, mentally, if I give myself the option of not having to be perfect, I will try.. I'm trying to combat the all- or nothing dragon. @TGP- thanks to TGP he is going to set up a spreadsheet for us. Once that is up, you can sign in, and record your goals Points Before Challenge-Write out goals = 6pts Check in- progress last week and what you need to accomplish in the upcoming week to win= 4 pts 80% or more of your weekly goal completed = 8 pts Improvement over last week (if your score last week was below 80%) = 2 pts 6 points- Pikachu 18- Nidoran 30- Oddish 42- Abra 60 Rapidash 72- Jolteon 92- Raichu 106- Arcanine 120 Charizard 132 Venosaur 144 Dragonite 160 Moltrew I think @annyshay @Defining @"BOT" - BackOnTrack said you guys were interested. spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Y0J4pDEzeYle8Uw-_fNW4hMjChE_27AI0_JkGBL1wA/edit#gid=0 I think that's it. Is there something I'm forgetting. Anything that isn't clear?

Back for another challenge! This challenge, I am going to add in some actual fitness into my goals, so I know the Pain Train will be coming for me. Those DOMS will be killer. Still, I know I need to get more going in my fitness if I ever want to get to my fitness goals. I also have weight loss goals, but that is really going to be a side effect of how I do with all my other goals. I want to get to the 100 lbs gone mark before my birthday (November 2nd). This means first goal is to drop 17 more pounds. 2nd goal is to reach the 250 mark before the end of the year. It might be tough with holidays coming in a few months, but I believe I can do it. 253 lbs is the lightest recorded weight I have. I was 225 pretty much all of my middle school years like 30 years ago haha. With all that, let's lay out the goals for this challenge. Goal#1 - Keto, Tracking, and even more IF So really the backbone of all this has been me eating Keto since the beginning of the year. Yes Keto isn't specific for weight loss, but it has helped me. I don't feel as restricted as I thought I would. Plus, even with some hunger cravings I do get, they are not nearly as bad as I use to be. So being in Keto does really help suppress my hunger. Once again, stay under 20 net carbs. Track everyday in MyFitnessPal. Do intermittent fasting with my eating window of 11 am to 6 pm. Now to kick it up a notch. I have been wanting to try it out, but just never have. The 24 hour plus fast. So during this challenge, I choose Tuesday as my non eating day. Water only day. This will actually be more like a 39 hour fast if I stop at 6 pm on Monday, then eat at 11 am on Wednesday. It sounds crazy to me, but why not give it a shot. Keto+tracking+normal IF = 1 point per day. 7 points per week. Fasting day complete One Meal done, eating after 3 pm = 5 points. (if this is too rough, I can cut it out later, or scale it back ) 12 points total per week Goal#2 - Read, Rest, Recover, Repeat The sleep challenge is back. Basic rules still apply. Computer off at 11 pm. Then reading started by 11:15 pm. Off to bed at midnight. Though a few minutes is acceptable if I am finishing a chapter or something. I'll need to make sure my sleeping is on point, because I will need the rest with Goal#3 1 point for reading on time, 1 point for sleep on time (no later then 12:30). 2 points per day, 14 points per week. Goal#3 - Bring the Pain Here it is. Another attempt to get exercise added into my life. I signed up for the NerdFitness Academy recently when it was on sale. Now time to use it. I will start off with body weight workouts, and eventually go on from there. I also am going to add in walking each day. I would get hung up on numbers in the past(and I am sure I will again), but my goal is just to get out there for a few minutes. Not just walking the dog around, but going myself to walk. I looked up a near by Pokestop in Pokemon Go. There are a few at the Fremont Library. So each day, my goal is to walk to the pokestop and back. Each morning I can probably bust this out fairly quick. There will be some adjustment though for when my son is back in school. I'll deal with that when the time comes. I will also have some weekends that I go drive for a hour + to bowl. Those days I will need to just figure it out. Monday, Wednesday, Friday = Workout days. Everyday is walking day. At least 15 minutes. 10 points for each workout. 30 total for the week. 3 points each day for walking. 21 per week. 51 points total per week. Goal#4 - Don't forget the list! Yeah, that is correct. I need to finish moving in! I'll see how much more I add to the list as time goes on haha. Unpack computer area boxes Hang new shelves Hang pictures Apply window tint Build my LEGO! (Doctor Who, and Voltron!) Register for classes Get back to checking blood sugar levels Longer term list items: Get through my sports cards (massive downsize) Board/Bag/Go though all my comics Try to sell off my old bowling balls/equipment Start sending off pictures/slide/videos to get digitized (very expensive, but a little at a time will help) No points for this goal, I just need to get it done. Measurements: Day 1 / End of Challenge Neck - 18.11 in / 18.36 in Chest - 49.37 in / 48.85 in Waist - 53.30 in / 52.71 in Bicep(L) - 15.11 in / 15.03 in Bicep(R) - 14.84 in / 14.84 in Forearm(L) - 12.59 in / 12.08 in Forearm(R) - 12.59 in / 12.36 in Thigh(L) - 26.10 in / 26.10 in Thigh(R) - 25. 98 in / 25.86 in Weight - 281.1 lbs / 275.8 lbs Points Week 1 (08/13 - 08/19) - 52/77 - 67% Week 2 (08/20 - 08/26) - 0/77 Week 3 (08/27 - 09/02) - 0/77 Week 4 (09/03 - 09/09) - 0/77 Challenge total: 0/308

I've always both identified with and cringed at Robert Downey Junior's portrayal of Iron Man. The guy obviously has issues with his parents, foods, and alcohol ... issues that he hasn't dealt with because he generally doesn't need to do so most of the time -- but that come back to bite him in the ass repeatedly during the Iron Man and Avengers series. I can relate. For years, I was able to ignore the poor food choice messages and habits I'd gotten from my family of origin, but I recently realized that the past has been dragging me down slowly and inexorably for the past 15 years. I've gone from thinking I'm really in charge of my life and on top of the world... ... to realizing that I need to dial up some major changes and address issues directly before I can make real progress. In my life, the missile has the name of my family of origin on it too. So, this challenge, I'm following the lead of Tony Stark and making some major direction changes in how I approach fitness. First off - I'm going to really focus on changing my eating habits from the ground up. I've been putting bandaids on with minor tweaks. Time to rip off the bandaids and dig into why and when I over eat. I'm going to read Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole M.S. R.D. and dig into why I eat the way I do .... and make changes. But these changes will be different. No restrictions on what, how much, or when I eat. Just paying attention to the hunger signals .... and the ton of "messages" that play in my head from my parents and society about food. I'll try to approach this with the famous Iron Man sense of humor. Second, I'm going to keep an anti-log log about what, when, and why I eat. And how I feel. And what I think about food choices. Yea, I know, logging when I'm doing intuitive eating is kinda breaking the rules. But that's so very like Stark .... And for something really different, I will spend a challenge NOT RUNNING. Seriously, can you imagine Tony Stark running??? In truth, after I get done with the Zombies, Run! virtual race, I need to take a break. Plantar fasciitis is flaring up, and I'm in a mental place where I'm not enjoying running, especially on a treadmill. It's been a long, wet, icy winter, and I'm just ready to do other things, like biking or PiYo or whatever looks fun. 6 days per week. And then, don't faint, I'm increasing strength training to 4 times per week. I've got my kettlebells in the basement and a workout plan for them. And if I want to go to the YMCA, I have two different workouts I can do there. The idea is that I can increase muscle mass while I unscrew my head. If I'm eating a bit more, it has a purpose in a dirty gain. Finally, it is time to SUIT UP!! I've been drifting, work-wise, for a few years, and my wardrobe is ...... patchy. I have come up with a list of items to fill in gaps so that I am professorial on the days that I am in the classroom (MWF) and business casual (jeans) during office days. And .... I'm only sorta keeping score this time. I have a checklist just because it is a way to remember what I planned to do for self-care. But if I am still typing and logging as of the last day of the challenge, I get a new tech toy. Sorry, Pepper. I will get an Aria 2 scale - mostly because I do want to record progress but I am terrible about remembering to log the numbers before I've had my first two cups of coffee. For week 0 Objectives: purchase Intuitive Eating & prepare new affirmations. I requested the book from the library, in the spirit of not buying more things that I need to store or move, but it looks like it is popular and will probably not arrive. So, I'm a gonna order one this week.

So, I fell again. I had really good intents last challenge, but once again my spawn died in the first half of the challenge. This has happened consistently for the past few challenges (and all the ones I did not do). So how do I make sure that I don't fail this time? Well, I need a stronger starter. I was like a low level Grass Pokemon trying to win at the Pokemon League against a Leader whose specialty is fire. (Hint: NOT. HAPPENING.) Bulbasaur!!! So cute! Winning? Will be challenging. But even Grass Pokemon have strengths. They have deadly attacks, and the ability to restore their HP even if they are hit. (Take that Fire Pokemons!!) So, since I cannot change my Pokemon type, I will make sure I take a loooooooong time going around in the first town before advancing to the next, more challenging one. I will even try to evolve my Bulbasaur into an Ivysaur before I move too much forward. Ivysaur has much better stats and ability to defend itself against attacks. But this is a long term view. For this quest to be successful, I also know that I have to set myself small, attainable goals. I am a very imperfect Pokemon, so I will miss my attacks, not be able to withstand enemy attacks and faint, and need my trainer to care for me a lot (Pokebeans!). Chi va piano va sano. Bulbasaur starts up with 2 attacks: Tackle and Growl. Not strong, and not even leveraging the Grass-type moves which are stronger. So I will go and try to learn Vine Whip - This is done by Leveling up to level 7. I am currently starting, so I am level 5. I need 2 levels to learn this new attack! Vine Whip! How do I gain points to level up? There are 4 ways! 1- Spend time in the tall grass - Fight off other Pokemons and get stronger! 2- Go to the Pokemon center regularly - Always be full of energy! 3- Eat good Pokebeans - Make sure my body is fed the right nutrients! 4- Visit all the houses on the way - Pick up skills and hidden objects! This will enable my Bulbasaur to grow in a balanced way, without too much pressure or fear of not reaching my objective. Boring point details Let's say I need 100 points to pass one level, I thus need 200 points to pass 2 levels and learn Vine Whip! Today is the first morning, and I already earned 2 points by having a balanced breakfast and doing 30 minutes of exercise bike! I sincerely hope I can continue and become a stronger, healthier Bulbasaur! Let's be happy Bulbasaur!

It should be obvious what the theme is this challenge. I'll be working on four goals, plus writing story. The story portions will have their own posts. I'm planning on six parts, one at the end of each week, plus the opening. This time I'm starting the challenge at the beginning of zero week. AKA, today! Goal #1: Poké Chef! Cook one *new* family meal a week. Goal #2: Catch that pokémon! Work on job hunt four times each week. If I get the job I interviewed for last week, replace job hunt with study. Goal #3: Walk, walk, and walk some more! Walk 25 miles (40 km) each week. Goal #4: Wake-up Slap! Follow the morning routine five times a week. Meditate -> Daily Dare -> Bullet Journal -> Nerd Fitness

I have just moved to Pataskala Ohio and my husband is not really into working out or some of the more nerd things I like. I was looking for a buddy either in the area or online/txt who may also like video games, larp, renaissance faires, pokemon, sports, and who would be willing to help keep me accountable and be able to talk nerd as well . Nerd workouts are the best workouts! If you have/love pets as well I love going to the dog park for a work out for both me and my pups. As I am just restarting my adventure I do not have many weights so most of my workouts are bodyweight(though there is enough of that lol), walks, or I get creative with other activities such as sports, the dogpark, or larp. -Ecco

Ingress with Pokemon, it's available on the app store now. I know a few nerds are playing. Anyone here? Team Mystic Gainsdalf the Whey RisenPhoenix Kelley Gammell Nightshadow shaaraway miss_marissa Suzaqu mike_d85 Marauder JessOfAllTrades Chris-Tien Jinn Grayspeed Flagwaver Jonesy zeroh13 Schmopey LucentFrost Team Valor raptron Hazard ahartzog Broba Fett Estrix athousandwords Anim07734 Maddie Hatter Myrik karinajean Ceasefire Red1263 LadyShello Wild Wolf Traxex Garjan Team Instinct LorenWade SkiBlue Allycat2407 The Scarlet Pimpernel UnquietBones Adrianne Machete

Introduction: I'm struggling to get back on track, so this time around I'm focusing on getting back to basics for a hard respawn. That means not only completing my quests but keeping my battle log updated. I need to hold myself accountable, which gives me a way to grade myself. That has helped in the past, so I should get back into it. I'm also focusing on staying positive. I think I have a tendency to beat myself up if I'm not meeting my goals. I'm still going to be real with myself, but I'm not going to be so negative. I've recently been playing Pokemon Sun and I really love the game! It brings back a lot of feelings of nostalgia while keeping things fresh with new game mechanics and Pokemon. One of the cool things is the introduction of Z-Moves. Pokemon holding a Z-Crystal basically go Super Saiyan and unleash a powerful Z-Move. In the game there's a character named Lillie who isn't a trainer but comes of age and evolves into her own sort of Z-Powered form. By the end, she sets out on a new adventure to become a Pokemon trainer. I felt inspired by that, so this is me surrounding myself with Z-Power! Time to step things up a notch! Main Quest: I've gained some weight back. I'd like to get back to 200 pounds by the end of the year. I want to start the new year with a During Photo, which I haven't taken since I took my Before Photo. Quest 1: Complete my assigned Bodyweight exercises three times a week and complete a cool down afterward. I will update these daily on my battle log if you want to see details and follow along. A = Complete workout/cool down 3 times a week. B = Complete workout/cool down 2 times a week. C = Complete workout/cool down 1 time a week. D = Complete 0 workouts/cool downs in a week. F = No physical activity. Quest 2: Walk and/or jog every day with my dog Booklet and complete a cool down afterward. I usually track these with the RunKeeper app on my battle log as well. A = Walk/cool down 6-7 days a week B = Walk/cool down 4-5 days a week. C = Walk/cool down 2-3 day a week. D = Walk/cool down 1 day a week. F = No walking/cool downs. Quest 3: Drink less alcohol. A = Have no more than 3 drinks per week. B = Have no more than 5 drinks per week. C = Have no more than 7 drinks per week. D = Have no more than 9 drinks per week. F = Anything more than that. Quest 4: Cook paleo meals more often, eat out less. If I do eat out, I will find healthy/paleo-ish options. A = Eat out no more than 2 times a week. B = Eat out no more than 4 times a week. C = Eat out no more than 6 times a week. D = Eat out no more than 8 times a week. F = Eat out more than 8 times a week. Life Quests: Money is tight these days, so I'm going to look at my expenses for the past few months and come up with a real budget for the new year. Motivation: I feel like my lack of self confidence is a big obstacle that gets in the way of enjoying life and taking chances. I'd like to look good, so I can feel good and live life to the fullest.

I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was I believe that I am ready to be my very best. I know what makes me feel and look my best, I just need to follow through. I'm taking my pokemon with me to give me some inspiration and companionship along the journey. ____________________________________________ Bulbasaur: 4 servings of fruits and vegetables every day Squirtle: 3 cups of water/herbal tea every day Charmander: Keep the metabolism fired up with 10k of walking/rucking every week Pikachu: 5 days of real sun or electric sun lamp (20 minutes) Gym Battle: Train for the Rainbow badge by completing 10 kettlebell workouts (following "Enter the Kettlebell") Pokemon Coins Bonus: No grains = 1/2 a coin Low sugar = 1/2 a coins 5 Coins = 100 PokeCoins on my PokemonGo game

I can't believe my Pokemon journey began a year ago today. I never thought it would take this long, but after defeating the indigo league only to be knocked out by the champion, I had a grudge to settle. I recouperated in Pallet Town before embarking on another journey, seeking strength and wisdom across Kanto's coast, under the mountains, through cyberspace, into the deep dark forest and amongst the islands. Now I'm ready to return to take out the Elite 4 and challenge the Champion again. Personal story (skip if you want to): In 2014 I worked hard to move past depression and anxiety. I thought I had succeeded until... In early 2015 I had a mental breakdown and lost my job and vocational education. I decided to give my life a major shakeup by planning a year-long international travel adventure on a shoestring for 2017. (Travel is a major cause of anxiety for me, so this is extra daring.) This gave me the rest of 2015 and 2016 to save up and prepare. One of my goals was to go from overweight and completely sedentary, to being fit enough to do seasonal farm work to pay my way while traveling. Somewhere along the way I joined NerdFitness and was surprised to discover a love of weightlifting and other badrangerassery. Exercise was not a magic bullet for me, but resistance training did help my depression, alongside other changes. A major motivator was laying down a base level of fitness in order to start Krav Maga (a martial art). In early 2016 I finally felt ready to start Krav Maga. But on my first lesson I tore a tendon in my (good) knee, setting me back both physically and mentally. (In my challenges, this is where I lost to the Champion). I eased back into fitness very slowly, being busy and afraid of re-injury, but about 7 months later, I am fully recovered and approaching my PRs again, on-track with financial goals and about to book plane tickets. There's just one thing left to do: smash this challenge. Week 0 - Lorelei (Ice type) Time to Unfreeze I've been feeling frozen in place and overwhelmed by all the things I have to do and could be doing. It's time to sort them out and make a plan. I'll be updating soon with specific goals. Also drinking a lot of iced tea (that goes for every other week too). Week 1 - Bruno (Fighting type) I will make sure I go to kickboxing this week and put in a solid effort. This is also the week to fight the mess in my room. Week 2 - Agatha (Ghost type) I will do something that scares me. Also, I will work extra hard on mobility this week. Week 3 - Lance (Dragon type) I will do something that makes me feel badass. And I'll have my birthday this week! Week 4 - Blue, the Champion This week I will pull it all together for a 100% week to completely, unambiguously beat the everloving daylights out of that Champion.

Battle-worn Assassin sneaking into Rebel camp (late) to heal and respawn.... I want to be the VERY best.... Reminding myself that the reason I started NF was to be the best version of myself that I can be. So, with the Pokemon theme song looping in my head I decided to join Ash Ketchum on an adventure to be the very best. SQUIRTLE: 3 cups of water a day/ 21 cups a week BULBASAUR: Vegetables 3x day/ 21 servings a week PIKACHU: Electric Sun Lamp 5x a week Ash: Walk 10k a week (hatch eggs using Pokemon Go) Brock: Beat the Rock-type Gym by doing 8 strength workouts Pokecoins!!! 7 days without sugar earns 50 pokecoins on my Pokemon go account. 7 days without grains earns another 50 coins.

Welcome back for another episode of the exciting Adventures of JediNickD! It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that I joined this site and started my first challenge. Upon my return, I have decided to revisit some of my challenge themes to turn them into lessons as I had been doing more recently. I feel it is a good way to reflect on my own learning and progress to write about and share these lessons, but I also have another objective. I am cataloging these lessons in a document which is now up to 136 pages. The plan is to use this document as a reference for my personal Jedi training and to pass on for my Padawan training. It isn't just my Nerd Fitness challenges. It includes every Jedi-related writing I have done, training I have worked through, and documents I have collected (which are not protected but have sources noted). Challenge Lesson: "You must unlearn what you have learned." - Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back Chinese Scholar Tokusan, who was full of knowledge and opinions about the dharma, came to Chinese Zen Master Ryutan and asked about Zen. At one point Ryutan re-filled his guest's teacup, but did not stop pouring when the cup was full. Tea spilled out and ran over the table. "Stop! The cup is full!" said Tokusan. "Exactly," said Master Ryutan. "You are like this cup; you are full of ideas. You come and ask for teaching, but your cup is full; I can't put anything in. Before I can teach you, you'll have to empty your cup." In Jedi training, it is important to let go of lessons learned in the past to learn to see the world in a new way. During my Jedi Training at the IJRS in 2012, I took a course on the Force with lessons analyzing my use of intuition. I found that I typically ignore my intuition when I shouldn't. I rely on logic, which is fine as long as you have all the facts. When my intuition and logic do not align, it is because I do not have all the critical information to make a decision. To rely more on my intuition requires that I take a leap of faith, which I am not in the habit of doing. Listening to the wise words of Yoda, I am relying on my intuition more and more. Since 2012, I have discovered my intuition can be remarkably accurate in pushing me in a positive direction before I "know" the desired information to make an informed decision. In my Toastmasters training, I have found that my initial practice and preparation techniques for speaking in front of others was all wrong for my confidence and self esteem. I used to write out the entire speech and choreograph the entire speech. I'd rehearse until I could do it by heart. It worked great... for practice. As soon as I was in front of an audience, I had to be perfect. If I goofed anything, it made me sweat and it threw the entire speech off track. I take a much more casual approach to speech writing now. I jot down some notes about what I want to talk about, maybe work out a line or two which will be the take away for the speech, then I just speak the speech over and over. I get to know the points I want to make and discover how I naturally say them and look for better ways to say them just working on my natural abilities. This allows me to be more comfortable in front of the audience, since there is no strict scripture. I just have to know my material forward and back which allows me to think on my feet better and focus on connecting with the audience. My goal for public speaking is to make an impact on the audience, give them something to walk away with, and influence lives. When I started Toastmasters, my goal was just to not be horrible and fearful of public speaking. I am beyond that and actually enjoy public speaking. It has given me leadership opportunities which I thought would always be out of reach, because I was a chicken. Well, this chicken crossed the road and became a confident rooster. For my fitness training, I always believed that running for the sake of running is boring. I had a hard time finding ways to make running interesting or a priority. After the Zombie, Run! app didn't work, I thought I'd give up on distance and focus on sprinting, since I enjoy being fast. Unfortunately, unless someone is chasing me like in playing football and rugby or there is a team I am competing with, I don't really enjoy sprinting enough to push myself to new heights. I discovered this summer that I just needed the right motivation. I now run with Pokémon Go. The longer I run, the further I go, the more Pokémon I catch and the more I progress in the game. The gyms are always just difficult enough to present a challenge and push me to keep improving. I fear that once I dominate gyms with my superior Pokémon, that I might not enjoy the game as much. I've noticed that some players have created a second account to help them hold down gyms, getting them to level 2 or 3. I kind of think of that as cheating, since the game really wants you to team up with other players. If the game starts to get boring, then I have these two options to make it more interesting. Starting from scratch with a second account or finding players to team up with on my morning runs, gym battles, etc. Those morning runs will always be important in progressing to the next level in the game, so I don't really see that part getting boring. I might just need to change the setting for my runs to discover different Pokémon. There are lots of areas where we fill up our minds with knowledge and opinions, but to truly grow you need to look past what you already know or think, see things from different perspectives, try different approaches, and experience new things. To continue to do things the same way, you will only get the same results. Change is growth. Empty the cup. Unlearn what you have unlearned to properly prepare yourself to be enlightened. My Main Quest and Mission: My mission is to be the best Jedi I can be. My main quest is always to enhance my overall health, fitness, and knowledge to be prepared for whatever challenges life could throw at me. As a Jedi, I need to be able to help people, whether that is a life threatening situation or just a charitable one. There is no boss level in Jedi training, there is only tomorrow. World 2 Level 5 Challenge: FITNESS: Work Up a Sweat - 600 minutes of conditioning training for the entire challenge. DEX +2, STA +3 The weekly plan is a minimum of three 45 minute tabata runs with Pokémon Go, plus plenty of walking, hiking, or other activities. I crushed my goal last challenge, but my family tends to throw a wrench in all plans I make for evenings and weekends. The minimum won't get me to my goal. I have to go above the minimum for at least 60 minutes. Stretch and Strengthen - 600 minutes of exercises and stretches for the entire challenge. STR +2, DEX +1 The weekly plan includes 10 minutes of regular stretching each day, two 20 minute sessions of physical therapy exercises and 30 minutes of other strength training each week. The minimum leaves 40 minutes to make up by the end of the challenge. DIET: Weight Control - Lose 2 lbs by end of challenge. Never weigh more than 163 lbs. Complete measurements before or during Week 1 and again during or after Week 4. The last part of this challenge is that I want to minimize how many times I have the thought, "I ate too much". I will count and report on each time I have that thought to identify how I can avoid the pitfall in the future. CON +3 Going to eat salad and veggies as much as possible with apples and dark chocolate as my sugary snacks. Avoid soda, ice cream, and potato chips. Minimize cheese and nuts. Most importantly, I have to watch my portions. I cannot ever have two "large" meals in one day. LIFE: Get Stuff Done - Complete 28 Tasks or Projects from any of the following areas: Toastmasters Communication Practice, Toastmasters Leadership Practice, Webmaster Work, Jedi Training, Job Work, Charity Work, House Work, Yard Work, Home Renovation, Auto Maintenance, Family Activities (to keep it diverse, no more than 4 from any one category) WIS +2, CHA +2 I'm still procrastinating, deciding to do the fun stuff first and delay the less fun stuff. Jedi Training is definitely something that is not getting any focus. I added more areas to the list to track (I don't want to not do something just because it doesn't make the list) and increased to 28 total (7 a week, or 1 a day). Incorporating a reward and consequence has been really helpful, so I'll keep doing that. My wife identified that we may be playing too much in our free time together and not getting to the bigger projects. She works weekends, so we have very little time where we can tackle a project together. The focus has been on smaller projects where single parenting is easier. When we are together, we usually have plans for something fun. I am having trouble motivating the kids to be useful with weekly chores, as well. I think I have a viable solution. REWARD: For each week I don't procrastinate undesirable tasks (where I think "I'll do it later") where I overcome procrastination and do it or at least work on it, I'll reward myself with one game of Madden Saturday morning. CONSEQUENCE: If I procrastinated at all, then I have to give up my morning to working on something I procrastinated. This plan won't influence my goal grade, but it will give me incentive to do all the things, instead of just the fun ones. Some might look at my reward scheme and think, "why not have a reward and consequence for the other goals", and my response is that I do. A healthier, muscular, sexy body is all the reward I need. ;-)

I'm on a Pokemon journey seeking true power in the wild and mysterious corners of Kanto (superimposed on my town). For the story so far see my battle log. I sure love my points systems, averages, targets and grading. I want to set a goal, laser focus and smash it. But right now that's not the most effective approach. I have a well-established fitness routine and it's more important to try to balance my mental and physical effort to avoid burnout than to tick off a checklist. So I will be grading each week on effort rather than points. My routine: M - lift T - / W - lift, shopping T - gym/aqua, kickboxing F - nature walk, lift S - gym/aqua S - / The first week of the challenge I'll be returning from travel on Tuesday and having to work extra time to catch up, so my only goal will be to bounce back from that. I made and froze 2 meals and the ingredients for another batch to give myself a head start. My workout buddy has a weekly general workout program for the gym now, so we can go any time rather than being constrained by class times, though I'm still hoping to get to some aqua classes. I'd like to do some more pull exercises on the machines to balance out the amount of pushing and sitting at a desk I do. Also a bit of mobility work on my feet is becoming a necessity, and I've got an itch to go rucking. And the garden needs attention. Should be a fun/crazy time!

Challenge under construction! This is my town, Pokemon-ified. For backstory visit my Battle Log. I'm currently suffering from Rangerbrain, busy-ness and low energy. So, this challenge I will try to find a sort of balance. Things I need (ok just really want) to do 3x Stronglifts (mostly just maintenance as I build my squats back up) 2x Gym visits 1x kickboxing 1x Bushwalking (rucking?) 4+ hours of Lynda lessons ? Hatch 10km of Pokemon eggs each week Knee strengthening (tbd by physio) My possible week: Monday - ugh Monday Tuesday - lift Wednesday - gym by bike, housework Thursday - morning Aqua fit by car, evening kickboxing Friday - lift, work from home Saturday - bushwalking, possibly gym by car Sunday - lift, mourn the weekend passing Or, Mon-Wed-Fri lifting.

Oh hai guys! Kinda fell of the face of NF for a while there, but I’m back Intro The time I’ve been away has allowed me the room to do some much needed reflection and truly figure out where I need to put my focus. I’ve been dealing with some pretty severe waves of depression and anxiety for the better part of a year now, and especially since the start of 2016. There are definitely good days and weeks, sometimes even a month or more, but overall it’s affected just about everything I do in the real world - from work to socializing to diet and exercise. That’s where this challenge comes in - and I’m so ready to be back! (Plus, I really missed you all!!) The general focus/goal for this challenge is self care: something I thought I had been doing, but in which I’m actually quite lacking. I’ve touched on the below goals in some shape or form throughout my previous challenges, but not so much as a way of caring for myself. They always felt like things I was just supposed to do or be doing as an adult. In keeping with the self care, this challenge is going to be kept pretty relaxed as to not add additional stress, but structured enough that it shouldn’t be a problem getting everything done. Now, on to the goals!

Introduction: I completed my second successful challenge and I feel like I have a better grasp on the new habits I'm forming, but I want to continue in this direction because it's definitely working and I want to make sure these positive changes are not just temporary ones. Here's an introduction to who I am and why I'm doing this. I've decided to stick with the Druids because I still want to investigate meditation and yoga more. While I'm primarily focused on losing weight and getting healthy, I'm very interested in finding peace and balance in my life as well. Like many other Rebels (I'm assuming), Pokémon Go has consumed my life the past week and a half, but in a good way. Since I got the app, I've been walking every day with my dog Booklet — the Pikachu to my Ash — to try to catch 'em all. And like the theme song from the Pokémon cartoon says, "I want to be the very best like no one ever was." Except I'm not really concerned with competing against others. I want to be the very best like I have never been. I guess you could say I aim to conquer as many battles as possible to level up until I evolve into my stronger form. I'm so close to being down to my college weight and becoming more fit than I've ever been in my life. It's really exciting. Main Quest: My 30th birthday is in October. I'd like to weigh 200 pounds or less by then. As of this morning, I weigh 213-214, which means my goal is well within reach. It didn't seem so easy to grasp when I started. I'd like to smash this goal and just keep losing as much weight as I can. My publisher has wagered $300 if I can achieve my goal. It's so fucking on! Quest 1: Complete my assigned Bodyweight Level 3 exercises three times a week (I've leveled up my workouts). I update these daily on my battle log if you want to see details and follow along. A = Complete workout 3 times a week. B = Complete workout 2 times a week. C = Complete workout 1 time a week. D = Complete 0 workouts in a week. F = No physical activity. Quest 2: Walk every day and work in the occasional jog/sprint. Booklet and I are gradually working our way up to 1-hour walks. I usually track these with the RunKeeper app on my battle log as well. Pokémon Go is making this goal so much more enjoyable! A = Walk 6-7 days a week. B = Walk 4-5 days a week. C = Walk 2-3 day a week. D = Walk 1 day a week. F = No walking. Quest 3: Drink less alcohol. I'm getting better at saying no all together or moderating myself when I do drink, but this is definitely still a big challenge for me. A = Have no more than 3 drinks per week. B = Have no more than 5 drinks per week. C = Have no more than 7 drinks per week. D = Have no more than 9 drinks per week. F = Anything more than that. Quest 4: Cook paleo meals more often, eat out less. If I do eat out, I will find healthy/paleo-ish options. A = Eat out no more than 2 times a week. B = Eat out no more than 4 times a week. C = Eat out no more than 6 times a week. D = Eat out no more than 8 times a week. F = Eat out more than 8 times a week. Quest 5: Investigate yoga and meditation and find a routine that fits into my life. I dabbled in yoga my last challenge and enjoyed the one regular class I tried. Hot yoga was a nightmare, lol. I'd like to look into the Nerd Fitness yoga program because I think a home-based yoga instruction would fit my life better. I failed to look into any form of meditation my last challenge, but I've got some good ideas on where I want to start thanks to tips from other Rebels. This goal is still kind of nebulous though, so for now I will focus on completing cool down routines after I workout and walk. My current cool down has a few yoga moves, so it's a nice little intro, but I tend to forget or skip it sometimes. I need to make this a regular habit because my body feels so much better the next day when I do it. A = Complete a cool down 6-7 times a week. B = Complete a cool down 4-5 times a week. C = Complete a cool down 2-3 times a week. D = Complete a cool down 1 time a week. F = Complete 0 cool downs. Life Quests: Netflix has become much less attractive to me in recent weeks. I'm currently catching up on Orange is the New Black, but I usually only watch it while I'm cooking/eating. I bought another Cesar Millan book, "How to Raise the Perfect Dog," to help me with Booklet. She can be a bit rebellious sometimes, so I need to learn how to be a better leader. I also like his books because he focuses a lot on being in the moment and maintaining a calm and assertive attitude, which I feel falls in line with my meditation/peace/balance goals. I also bought a bunch of other books while I was on vacation. I don't have a bookstore in my town so I tend to go overboard when I find one elsewhere. I will read Millan's book along with at least one other book that I bought during this challenge. Two books in one month should be no problem. Three books would be really cool, so I will aim for that. I'm still not writing anything in my free time, and it bums me out fiercely. However, my publisher assigned me a story this week about Pokémon Go, of course. It was my first real article in quite a while. I had a lot of fun interviewing people and writing in a more creative/free style (I'll try to share it as soon as I can). My editor asked if I missed writing and I definitely do (even though it can be more stressful with the deadlines). So we talked about me doing 1 story a week but in a first-person column type form. Not necessarily an opinion piece, but just bringing my personal perspective to local stories. I think this will help satisfy my desire to write as a personal/creative activity but I'll have more push to actually do it since it'll be a work assignment. Motivation: I feel like my lack of self confidence is a big obstacle that gets in the way of enjoying life and taking chances. I'd like to look good, so I can feel good and live life to the fullest.

Welcome to my latest challenge thread. Pokemon GO edition. I was sick most of my last challenge, and the challenge before that wasn't so hot either. Time to get back, and have a good challenge. Since Pokemon go was release, I have gotten myself back out there. I've been walking each day. Since I have been so motivated to get out there now, I figured I would structure my challenge around it My goals are pretty similar to what I had last time. This time, I am just not down and out right away Goal1 - Gym Battles Like an aspiring Pokemon Master, I need to get in my gym battles. Each gym has 3 bosses. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The bosses siblings, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, might need sub in if I have to change my schedule for some reason To beat these bosses, I need to attack them with Stronglifts. This will be the third challenge that I will attempt to do the stronglifts routine. Time to get it done. Just a side note. My wife informed me last night, our local gym is having a contest. I think it starts at the end of the month. $1000 for first place. I think it is person to lose the most wins. I am guessing body weight percentage to be fair. I’ll need to find out. So I may have additional motivation there, and might need to get together with the trainer to maximize my workouts. I’m going to 4 gym badges this challenge. Beating the 3 bosses will earn me 1 badge a week. Goal 2 - Walk/Run between Gyms With Pokemon GO now out, I have really been getting back out there and getting in some walks. All the trainers know you have to walk to get the next gym battle, and plenty of training on the way. So this goal I will continue playing Pokemon Go, and walking. I’m not setting a specific goal like 10k steps yet. The real goal I have, is to get back to running. I want to run a 5k in September, but I don’t think I can drop enough weight in time. I plan to walk every day. So one pokepoint per day of walking. Week 2, I will attempted C25k again. This will be on non workout days. Goal 3 - Pokepuffs? Not for me With all the training, and traveling between gyms, I need to keep myself fueled properly. I need to get back to prepping my meals, and tracking in MyFitnessPal. I will continue with having 2 meals during the week be my whatever meals. I still want those meals to be healthier types, or at least quality meals. I’m not giving up a meal for fast food. Prep lunch and dinner meals. 12 meals total, 2 “whatever” meals Track food in mfp. 1 pokepoint per day. Even on whatever meals times, I still want to track it. Goal 4 - Resting up at the Poke center Each trainer knows that they need to rest up after all that training and gym battling. So I need to make sure I get my rest as well. I will be in bed no later then 12:05. Turn off all distraction, by 11:30pm, and hit up some reading. I didn’t finish all my Calvin and Hobbes last challenge, so I will be using those. If I run out of reading, I can always just focus on something else to wind me down. Maybe meditate or something. 1 pokepoint each day. Measurements: (I will take on Day 1) Neck - 20.27in / Chest - 57.12in / Waist at belly button - 62.91in / Bicep (L) - 18.26in / Bicep (R) - 17.91in / Forearm (L) - 14.25in / Forearm (R) - 14.25in / Thigh (L) - 32.08in / Thigh (R) - 30.11in / Weight (lbs) - 370.2lbs / Grading: Pokemon Gym defeated Week 1: 0 Week 2: 0 Week 3: 0 Week 4: Pokepoints earned: Week 1: 13.5/21 Week 2: 7.5/21 Week 3: 7/21 Week 4: 0/21

...like no one ever was!!! That's right, this challenge is pokémon themed. And spreadsheet fueled. And all kinds of awesome. Of course I'm doing all the things again, so I thought I'd hop back in with the Rangers to see what you guys've been up to but I've really been focusing on balance practice lately and I want to get more bodyweight stuff and gymnastics going on, so I've decided to move to the Assassins at long last. I've been slipping into their minis for the last few challenges anways I'll start a new job this month (and will also celebrate my 1 year nerdversary this saturday!) so this challenge is designed in a way that lets me adjust the difficulty easily and take a rest if I feel like I need it. I'm using week 0 to figure out the details, so expect some things to change around here (we're currently on version 2.0). But let's get started... I used to play a lot of pokémon in my teens. A lot. I started with blue, then yellow, then silver and then I kinda grew out of it... (yes, I was around when all of these came out first, I'm that old). I was never really one for trying to catch them all, nor did I have a specific type that I liked and would collect... I just tried to get the most balanced, versatile, powerful team I could. So this challenge, I will put together a team of Pokémon and train them by fighting other pokémon I come across. Each member of my team will represent a certain area that I want to improve on and each of their attacks will correspond to a certain task or activity that I want to do. These are mostly things I've done before or am currently doing, this challenge is just designed to keep me motivated and accountable. Because if I don't do these things straight away, my Pokémon will pay the price! A new wild pokémon will appear each day and will attack a member of my team (these will be scheduled, I just have to make made a plan). Fights last until one opponent is defeated, so there can be several fights going on at once. In order to not over-complicate things, the game mechanics will be fairly simple: I chose which attack my pokémon is going to use and also the level of the wild pokémon, which determines how much time it will take to defeat it: each level equals one tomato/brick (25 minutes). So if a wild Lvl 3 Pidgey appears and Charmander uses Ember, I will have to do 75 minutes of bodyweight workouts to defeat it. If I manage to do that on the same day, my Charmander defeats Pidgey and possibly gains a level (getting to lvl 2 takes one successfull fight, lvl 3 takes two fights, lvl 4 takes three fights and so on). If I don't defeat the pokémon and for example only get 60 minutes in, Pidgey attacks and damages my Charmander for the number of minutes that still remain, so 15 HP in our example. If this finishes my Charmander off, it loses a level, the Pidgey scurries off back into the tall grass where it came from and I get to try again the next day. As we all now, the number of fights in Pokémon is largely determined by your willingness to walk around in tall grass for hours on end. So whenever my daily opponent is defeated and I feel like doing a little bit extra, I will walk through tall grass and find some more pokémon to fight. Which means that this option is only available if I have completed my "enjoy the outsides" habit for the day. That suffered a bit last challenge and maybe this will motivate me to do this more often (you know, if I don't go outside, the yoga I've done in the evening might not count as a fight and I'll miss the opportunity to gain a level *gasp*). In theory, I can fight as many pokémon as I have team members at the same time, but once I decide to fight extra, I need to defeat them and they'll behave just like the regular ones. I can't change my mind if I realize I've put too much on my plate In addition to these fights, I will have other options to support my pokémon: Every day where I show perfect eating habits (no white grain, no refined sugar, three meals, one of them warm, 2 of them with veggies, more than 2l of water) I will gain a health potion that heals 50% of the chosen pokémon's health. Every day where I have a perfect habit tracker score I will gain a health potion that heals all my pokémon for 5% of their health. Every week with a perfect housekeeping score will reduce half of the remaining HP of any enemy still in fight. For everyone who hasn't followed my old challenges and who's confused about what a housekeeping or habit tracker is: lengthy explanation in the spoiler Here's a list of all attacks/ things I want to do, sorted by type. For now I've chosen one attack for each pokémon on my team. As pokémon level up and gain new attacks, I will have more options to choose from on how to beat a wild pokémon. Fire: Feel the burn. HIIT or any other type of bodyweigh training. Water: The river goes on and on and on. I'll either swim with my pokémon or cheer them on from the (dry) shore. Swimming, running, biking, skating and anything else endurance goes here. Bug: Lie on your bag and flail your legs. This will either be a leg workout I got from a friend or something along the line of Deftona's P:BA Electric: Focus your energy! Work related adulting, mainly reading for work (and taking notes!), office work for my dad's company and any other paper work that comes along. Flying: See the world from a different perspective, even if this just means being upside down Balancing work or other gymnastics. Normal: Sing, sing, sing. Singing practice for choir or lessons. There are some types missing because I couldn't match them to things I want to do or because I things I came up with weren't really important enough to me to include them here. But one type is missing because I won't use it in my team at all. It will still make an appearance, though: Poison: Whenever I eat something bad, a poisonous wild pokémon will appear and attack me. Level depends on how bad I misbehaved All my pokémon are allowed to help out and defeat it. If unsuccessfull, it will poison my team and drain 10% of their health per level each day. And of course there's badges to be won!! As my pokémon grow stronger and stronger each day, they will need a little bit of an extra challenge. So whenever I feel like it, I can attempt to take down a gym leader and own a badge. Here's what I need to do to defeat them Boulder Badge (Rock): Go bouldering (duh). Friends of mine go and I've always wanted to go along. I'll have to trim my nails for this, but I think it'll be worth it Cascade Badge (Water): Follow the river. Run 5k in under 30 minutes along the riverside. Thunder Badge (Electric): Resist the magnetic pull of my computer. Stay off the internet until noon for 10 days in a row. Rainbow Badge (Grass): Go for a hike in the nearby mountains/woods that are really famous but that I've never been to for some reason. Soul Badge (Poison): Stay away from the bad stuff. Follow my eating habits for 10 days in a row. (The normal kind, not the special one that gains me health potions.) Marsh Badge (Psychic): Let the Sky fall! Hit that high e in a concert. Volcano Badge (Fire): Get sweating. Find a HIIT workout that I can do 1 round of. Come back to it later and do 3 rounds. Earth Badge (Ground): Get close to the ground. Then get away from the ground. Do 10 push-ups in a row. I intend to keep the pokémon theme around for a while so these won't all happen this challenge. These are not set in stone yet, so if you guys have any other ideas for these, feel free to let me know. Here's where the spreadsheet magic happen. This is and old version though, I'm currently figuring out the best way to set things up and calculate most of the things automatically. I don't think I'll stick to the attacks they have at lvl 1 as I originally intended, because I'f like to have special type-corresponding attacks from the start. Way too much office work otherwise So, I think I've covered everything you need to know to understand what's happening. If you have any questions, drop me a note. For now, route 1 awaits Charmander, I choose you! Charmander attacks Pidgey with Scratch (1 hour of office work today). Charmander is defeated! Geodude gains 1 lvl! Tadaaaaa And I see a Rattata lurking around the corner, so I'll be ready for it tomorrow! (Don't be confused, I changed some things around, so this doesn't really make sense anymore )

Behold, my adventure map! (roughly corresponding to my town) For more backstory visit my battle log. After hiking rangerously through Mt Moon I expected to emerge triumphant into the daylight but instead fell into the pit of Zero Week where family issues, comfort eating and travel got the best of me. All was not lost as I still fit in one workout and two walks and did some meal prep to get my diet back on track. This time I will be taking a tour around the Safari Zone (wildlife reserve visit/fitness goals) and looking for Mew on the docks by the S.S. Anne (visiting the coast/life goals). Fitness Goals in the Safari Zone Knee-doqueen Knee strengthening exercises every day. This is going to take a lot of discipline but I'm sick of not being able to trust my knees to be stable. I'm still refining the routine but I'm basing it off this site and some exercises from YouTube. Barefoot STOMPing One barefoot walk each day, at least to the end of the street and back but a little longer each day if my feet can take it. I used to be into barefooting but once I found thin-soled shoes I liked I gave up on conditioning and never had the patience to try again. Once I can walk to the shops and back it will be easy since my day-to-day errands will become my conditioning time. But that's a fair way off and in the meantime short walks outside will do me good. HM04 STRENGTH Continue strength training 3x a week at home but increase from one to TWO gym visits a week. I finally fixed my bike so now I don't have to worry about wasting petrol or paying parking. Life Goals on the S.S. Anne Captain's log 4-5 hours per week on Lynda.com courses, since I'm paying for a subscription and it is NOT cheap in AUD. This will allow me to complete 4 courses on vector illustration. Sightseeing Cruise Visit the wildlife reserve or a coastal area at least once a week to draw or paint. Bonus - Find Mew Under the Truck File my health insurance claims. Bonus - HM01 CUT Tidy up the lawn edges and various weedy corners.

Hi Rangers! I had a blast in the Druids but it's good to be home. What I've been doing isn't working so I've decided to change course and not rely on the gym right now, but strength train regularly at home, hoping that will give me the energy to sort my shit out, get my bike fixed and go to the gym more. This map roughly corresponds to my town which I will be moving out of at the end of the year. It's such a beautiful place I want to make sure I've enjoyed it before I leave - and what better way to do that than by gamifying it? This challenge I will be exploring Mt Moon - visiting the museum and drawing some of the architecture in the city. 1. Strength training - 3x week. Sticking to Stronglifts because I know I like it, but minus the squats - instead I'm doing wall sits daily. Doesn't matter if I progress at all, I just need to be pumping iron. This goal includes at least one gym visit per week, but it doesn't have to be strength training. 2. Drawing/exploring - 1 per week Hopefully this gives me some material to update my blog. One trip will be to the museum, the others will be around the city to sketch scenes. 3. 5min flow and knee exercises EVERY DAY I find it really difficult to stick to daily goals but it's time to stop cutting myself slack I don't need, because I can handle this, despite being busy. It's only 7 minutes out of my day! Other stuff I've got on the go: Unreferenced character sketches 1xweek Online free permaculture course from Oregon State University - 1 module per week for this month Pokemon drawings - no schedule Still doing Lights Out - able to use my discretion about when to skip it Art skills level up - this month is about drapery, but also finishing off last month's portraits Working on my website - currently doing a self portrait to use as my profile picture 100 days of keto - day 14 as of the start of this challenge and feeling great