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Those of you who followed my last challenge know I scrapped it halfway through and decided to focus on sharing one positive thing every day. And it made such a huge difference on my mindset. So this time we're keeping the positivity rolling. Feel free to share your own positivity here too! Today's positive thing: it's been hot around here, and the office air conditioning isn't bothering me at all! The first week they had it on in May, I was miserable. Throat burning, eyes itchy, terrible. I was starting to worry that I wasn't going to be able to stay at this job I really like because the freaking air conditioner was going to do me in. But it's been fine now, which leads me to believe that there was a lot of winter crud blowing out the first time they turned it on, which isn't great, but at least it's temporary.

Cracks and blemishes. Soil and rust. What had been her weapon, her force against the darkness, sat heavy in the barrens beyond. It must be reclaimed. Found, carried, reforged. It was hers to wield, and though it had long been from her hand, she knew she wanted it back. A deviation from the normal plan of attack here perhaps? Yes! Food, exercise, art, all these things are wonderful and important - but I believe I have a new #1 priority for myself right now. Something, that in turn, will likely help all the other stuff too! Today I feel like taking the first step on a new journey. But just like Mr Frodo accepting the quest to return the ring to the fires of the mountain, mine will be a hard journey fraught with enemies! It will take a Fellowship of helpers to keep me on this path (that's your cue) too! I am on a quest to return to the brighter, more out-going, more cheerful, more kind, more patient Starpuck that I used to be! I'm not sure how I got to this part of The Dismal Forest - maybe just life and circumstances, maybe being too long in a house with someone who is negative day in and day out, I'm not sure. And I am not blaming him, or anyone , for my arrival into this place. Ultimately, I decide who I am, and how I react to things. This isn't going to be just a light switch that gets turned on though. I'm going to forget, or fail, or feel too tired or too upset about this or that on occasion. But the more I work toward it, the more little wins I will get, and those wins will build up, and gain momentum, until eventually, the overall general outlook and being will start to change too. Like slowly sweeping up the dust and grit in a warehouse that hasn't been aired out in years. Little by little. I can clean it up and then it will be bright and ready to house all sorts of things and people again! The first things first, I need to stop venting / complaining about people and things. I think this is natural human nature. And indeed, it is important to air out feelings now and then instead of bottling things up and letting them fester into a poison. But I will limit this, and also work to communicate all the great things about people. Or see things from a different angle so as to not overly blame or come down on folks. I've gotten into a terrible habit of complaining almost daily about people I consider friends and whom I care about, and that's not good. This is all fine and good, but without track-able goals, how am I going to make sure I am putting one foot in front of another in the right direction?! And do I really want to give up on the other things I've been working on? No! Of course not! So let's get our boots on and grab our cloak and figure out how to complete this quest. Goal #1 - MAKE THE CHOICE Every journey begins with a decision. As my mindset is really, truly, the biggest rival I have on this, I am making this top priority. I will work on this by, daily, in the morning, use my bullet journal to set the tone for the day. I must write something positive to start my day. It can be something I am grateful for, a positive choice I plan on making, a comment about a friend or family member I am glad to have in my life. Anything that would be considered a bright, positive output. DAILY. 7x/week Goal #2 - PUT YOUR BOOTS ON After making the choice, the next step is to get your gear together and start moving. This goal will represent that I need to maintain healthy physical habits, because exercise helps keep my mood up, so I need to get my boots on and keep moving one step after the next. Any kind of movement counts toward this, but I would like to still aim for 2x strength a week. 5x/week Goal #3 - PACK YOUR RATIONS You can't survive a long journey without having rations with you in your bag of holding. This will be about eating good food, in healthy amounts, and that's that. I don't believe I will track calories while working so hard on the mental/emotional side of things. But without some kind of tracking, there's no way to be accountable to this. So, since I will be using my BuJo daily anyway, I will write down what I've eaten at least, daily. 7x/week Goal #4 - BRING YOUR PARCHMENT AND INK What, why? To document your journey of course! But in my case, it will be less about journaling my antics, and more about putting implement to canvas. Inktober got me back into art, as it always does, and I think it's essential for me to have a hobby that I don't feel 'super good' at, but continue doing anyway. As I've got a lot on my plate this challenge, I am keeping it toned down (hah pun) so it's not oppressive. 3x/week Now all that's left ... is to start the journey!

It's a story as old as time... Respawning! I am starting this challenge a little late, so I will use it to build up good tools and habits, so I can be at 100% for the next challenge! I am really working on myself right now, focusing on building out a better person both at work and in my personal life, and while learning about growth mindset, realized that I had gone into a place where I had neglected my body, and moved back to thinking that "nothing could be changed, I will stay this shape forever, this is my destiny". But how can I hope to change my mental habits and think I cannot change my physical aspect as well? So, I am trying again! I will start slow, build habits, focus on not being miserable, doing thing for ME and having an actually inspirational goal, not something I think I may be able to achieve but not really want. So for this time, I am deeply focusing on myself and thinking about what I REALLY WANT, versus what I hide myself behind. 3 goals for these 2 weeks to prep (goals 1 are for week 3, to be done by May 12th and goals 2 by the end of the challenge!). 1- Get inspired - really think about what I want to look like. The styles I like (not the styles I have to wear because of my body shape), the clothes I always wanted to wear. Also think about makeup, hair and nails, which I can start doing immediately! ---> Goal 1: identify styles I like in magazines - cut out 5-7 pictures ---> Goal 2: find pictures of people I like and want to emulate - cut out and put on the walls 2-3 pictures 2- Establish habits - for nutrition and for moving. I've let my diet go, to the point that my diet is now "whatever I want to eat". Let me tell you, I want to eat chocolate more often than vegetables. So this is where I start watching meal-prep videos and how to swap carbs-heavy meals with healthier (but still happy) alternatives. ---> Goal 1: Re-balance diet: go back to eating from noon (1145) to 10pm, and eat vegetables and/or fruits with every meal ---> Goal 2: start meal prepping again, in order to eat outside less and facilitate goal 1 3- Track things and adjust, in order to stay happy - The best indicator of me actually investing in myself is the time I dedicate to thinking about it and tracking to make sure I actually do the things, but don't get too crazy. And I know that if I start slow and build momentum, I will continue and actually get to a great place. 4 years ago I was eating paleo and mostly carb-free. This seems far away from an all choco diet, but I can slowly go back to it. I KNOW I CAN. ---> Goal 1: track all that I eat and my workouts in a Google spreadsheet (the sheet is built!) ---> Goal 2: Establish goals for eating (using Weight Watchers Points) and for exercising (keeping in mind all of the things that Staci told me AND my preferences) Let's start our journey again - this time I am bringing with me a positive spirit and a desire to celebrate small wins. Let's go!

Last Challenge started off with me in a deep deep low and, despite a weird mental episode and bout of sickness, toward the end i had one of those spells where everything suddenly makes sense and i was motivated to clean and organize everything and try to become all sunshine and sparkles that's worn off for the most part and i'm back to feeling 'locked out' of my thinks and without much of a clue where to begin with anything, but it's not a low, and it's workable. Unlike the beginning of last challenge, there is much less going on all at once this time around. The only really huge thing is that, come April, i'll be starting a course to finally get my high school diploma...after years of no formal schooling. Which is really exciting for me! And also a little bit scary. Between my personal history (or lack thereof) and ongoing issues with feels and focus, that's all going to be challenging enough, so this challenge is about setting things up to be easier by getting prepared and Looking For Space! In more ways than one. My goals fit three categories (though the second and third kind of blend together a little bit) and are mostly just some little 'rules' i'm setting for myself. Studyspace/Workspace/Livingspace - clean! all! the things! and keep them clean! Big Clean! Give the rooms i have access to each a thorough cleaning to the extent that i can, and ask the fam to pitch in where necessary. Little Cleans! Once a room is clean, make sure to keep it that way by tidying up each night before bed. Dishes - wash whatever i use immediately afterward instead of waiting and forgetting. Laundry - fold and put away immediately instead of waiting and forgetting. Keep my room conducive to use as a schoolroom, make my bed each morning, so on so forth Headspace - focus on positivity! Find and use a Bible Reading Plan Use positive language wherever possible Surround myself with positive content and stay away from things i know will get me down Avoid self harm, in every form it takes for me. Unapologetically enjoy things without trying to justify it Follow through on my stance of not worrying about things i can't control Follow through on being selective about what affects me Stop holding back from giving people compliments or saying "i love you" If there's something good i can do for someone, do it. Start thinking about my daily routines like they're some kind of montage out of an adorable animation or something Do my Duolingo and Memrise, watch educational videos, learn something every day, so on Personal Space - take care of my transportation basically drink the water! i usually have 64oz or more when i'm doing right, and need to stay on it. do the exercise and the stretching each day. eat the foods and don't stress about it. do my skincare deploy bath bombs at will, just, sling some bathbombs around. make some time and get it done. One Off 'Jobs' - Get my ID updated The Big Clean Pick up School Supplies (pencils/notebooks) Set up a Schedule - this is pretty much as simple as writing things down again These are all a bit scattered and the Headspace section i know makes it look like a LOT, but that's just some of the stuff i've been thinking about recently. Part of the 'unapologetically enjoy things' has been really recent- i'm normally pretty shy to enthuse about anything, especially to my family even though they've never given me a reason to feel ashamed. I've been trying to take some little steps there ( like the other day when i joked-but-meant-it to my mom that the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron has 'two of the greatest moments in cinematic history' ) but it also extends to my appearance somewhat- i'm 22 years old and only within the past year or so have felt comfortable wearing a tanktop, or doing my hair in a braid or a bun. So that's part of what i'm working on with the positivity is to just, be me, like the things i like, and not worry about it.

SHINY & EXCITING NEW CHALLENGE INTRO: From [REDACTED], unknown date and era. This challenge shall also be known as 'or how Rurik learned to stop worrying and took his gigantic mirth back,' because I've been focused for too long on my gigantic melancholies and things around here feel and look too goddamn grim. As they say, and by they I mean me just this moment, in a room full of the sane, it's the insane man who is truly free... and my freedom means everything to me. Plus this challenge will take us up to the release of Aquaman, and Jason Momoa should be an inspiration for us all! Starting weight baseline: 220 lbs [Aug 12/18] CrossFit Skill Metrics: CrossFit Levels I DON’T BELIEVE IN ANYTHING: "A delicate balancing act of fuel and activity." [+2 STR, DEX, STA, CON] The Mindful Art of Nutritional Alchemy™ 6 of 7 days/week: ☐☐☐☐☐☐ 4 CrossFit classes per week: ☐☐☐☐ [Challenge Total: ☐☐☐☐] I’M JUST HERE FOR THE VIOLENCE: "Dump Stat my Charisma until I’m an Extrovert.” [+5 CHA] Partake of 3 sessions of “Be Happy” per week: ☐☐☐ Social activity 1 time/week: ☐ Moment of Frivolity shared (per update): ☐ OH, AND STOP AND PET THE POKEMON: A Self-Improvement Junkie. [+2 WIS] Post a daily challenge update 3 of 7 days/week: ☐☐☐ Ongoing To-Do mini-quests… ☐ Read: [In Progress] ☐ Play: [In Progress] Get a Wii and play the shit out of some Mario Kart. ☐ Write: Thoughts & Ponderings in ColorNote/OneNote app. ☐ Build: [In Progress] Accent Wall ☐ Minimalize: [In Progress] Return unused trade goods to Home Depot. ☐ Other: [In Progress] Dump run. CHALLENGE INSPIRATION: There's no theme in particular here, just #Momoa365 and as much geekery and frivolity as possible. Mostly I just want to live this challenge as if I were a Borderlands character (even though I've never played the game).

I have discovered my two biggest obstacles that I face when I want to exercise: 1. "If I would have just started exercising when I started thinking about exercising; I'd be done by now." 2. "OH! A little bit feels good, so I bet a shit ton more must feel better!!!" (Me after not exercising AT ALL for a couple of months) Not too little. Not too much. Just right. For 4 weeks, I will do no more and no less than the following: Walk: 20 minutes/3 times per week Yoga: 20 minutes/3 times per week I feel like this will help get me back into the habit without over doing it and burning out. Accountability Chart As a side challenge (that has no real plan of action as of yet) - I am going to try to incorporate more positivity into my life and become more centered.

Almost all of my attempts at doing this have been mostly failures, this is in fact due to my mental illnesses plaguing me night and day. Whether it's the small little voice in my head asking the dreaded What's the point? Or simply letting my anxiety convince me that it's not a good idea to do the thing. I know that I always say this is the time for real... and I mean it, I even trimmed up my beard drastically to prove a point. (Have no fear the bearded one is still here and will return in his full glory soonish). So: I'm thirty years old and reside in the good ol' South ( a place I rather despise), I'm a father, avid gamer and a wanna be author. Currently I am 280 pounds exactly, and apparently fluctuate between that and 275. My goal is to drop down beyond that point, and do the thing! Step one, is to monitor my calorie intake and make healthier food decisions, no matter how yummy my son's snacks look. Step two, ?????? Step three, exercise as much as I can daily if possible and that equals the outcome I wish to see. Danny Trejo believes in me, so I need to believe in me too..

So some Stuff has come up and I'm finding it necessary to do a slight switcheroo on the Goals: Health: Drink All the Water - drink at least two thermos-fulls , preferably more Eat Something Real - at least once a day. This is hard this is so hard ahhhhhhhh I'm Do the Exercise - one workout, just. something. every day. Other: HOUSECLEANING - it has become imperative to prep a workable workspace. Gotta get my bedroom/office into a reasonable state of existence. HOUSECLEANING - Bathroom/Kitchen need some Scrubbing That important paper stuff I can't seem to articulate atm

(This song has nothing to do with anything. I just stole the phrase from it. And like it.) ************************************************** “What if we trusted ourselves, believed in our basic worthiness, believed that we would be OK even if things didn’t work out as planned, believed that we are loving, kind, and innately good human beings?” I've been having a hard time articulating what I want to do this challenge. I've been adding one new habit per challenge this year, with the idea that I'd accumulate 10 healthy habits over the course of the year. But something's a bit off, even though the new habits have been going well. So at first I thought I was just going to take a break for a month to let the new habits settle in more without adding anything new. But then I was trying to articulate WHY I felt I needed a break and what exactly it is that's been feeling off. And it's a couple of things. My progress has begun to hurt me. I’ll work out three times a week and think “ugh that wasn’t as good as the workouts I was doing last year!” instead of “Yay! I did all of my workouts!” And that’s a problem. That’s a stop drop and roll problem. I need to stop and fix it before I move on. Simultaneously, even though all of my habits are worthwhile and positive, I feel like I just don't have SPACE in my life right now to just enjoy things, and I'm not sure if it's the fault of all the things I'm trying to do or something else entirely. I take everything completely seriously, and that's both an incredible strength and a danger. So this challenge, I’m going to stop, drop, and roll. I’m going to take a break from my one-habit-per-challenge approach to the year. There’s no right way to do things. There’s no one thing or even list of things that I HAVE to do to enjoy life. Or to succeed at this challenge. And right now that sense of needing to make progress is robbing me of something else important in the present. And I don't just mean video game time. So this challenge, I both have a goal and don't have a goal. I guess it's a meta-goal, because I'm incapable of completely taking a break. I want to BASK. I want to bask in how lovely and beautiful the world is. I want to bask in how amazing it is that I can run a mile and think it’s no big deal when I used to DREAD running a mile. I want to bask in the fact that I have a boyfriend who I can cuddle and touch and play with. I want to bask in the feeling of working late into the night during an aikido class because we all love what we’re doing and we love moving and learning together. I want to bask in the feeling of sunshine or the pleasure of playing a video game. I want to drop anything that I can’t bask in. If I’m reading a book and I’m not actually getting pleasure from the experience, I want to do something else instead. I want to celebrate what I’m accomplishing. I want to hit all of my scheduled workouts and say "Woo! I'm awesome!" instead of anything else. So for this challenge, I can only post updates about what I bask in. I can complain about unrelated things too, of course. I'm not a monster. But I can't just post a list of everything I've done for the day. I can only share the basking. I'm hoping this will help reset my mindset in the direction I want to be going. So maybe the song has a little bit to do with the challenge. I want to emphasize to myself that there's no one right way to do things. I want to fall in love again with everything I'm doing. And If I'm incapable of loving it, maybe it's not something I shouldn't be doing.

** Dear newbs: As of right now it seems we don't have a guild leader. I've been here for over 3 years so if you have questions feel free to ask me. You can ask here, PM me, @ tag me in another thread, or post in the general chat thread. Please feel free just to drop in and say hi too. My threads tend to move fast because I'm friends with crazy people, but we're the good crazy. ** Right-o. Changed my title because I decided to take this challenge in a different direction. So the American Psychological Association's definition of resilience: Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences. tl;dr version - I have an anxiety disorder and feel like I'm constantly stressed. Which is Not Good psychologically or physiologically. I've also had a number of massive stressors recently, one of which is only going to get worse from here. I've been told I'm handling it all really well and I know they're legitimate things to be stressed about, but I don't like where I am right now. In my crisis management class we talked about resilience and how to build/strengthen it, so I'm pulling from the principles on his powerpoint and choosing goals that were on my list that will mesh with what he said. The Goals 1. Take Care of Yourself Movement every day - yoga, Elements, even a walk around the block Cut out dairy, minimize meat Be in bed by 11pm, out of bed by 8am Cut caffeine 2. Active Problem Solving Register and study for the Certified Associate in Project Management exam (falls under "goal setting") Complete one Spanish skill or 30 exp on Duolingo every day. 3. Maintain a Positive Outlook Post a daily recap of all the things I did - job applications, phone calls, taking out the trash, anything to prove to myself I did more than just sit on the couch all day End journal entries with 3 things I’m grateful for 4. Social Support ??? 5. Meaning and Purpose Daily meditation Journal every day Reach out to some of the organizations I might want to volunteer at and see how to get started The much longer version of the rationale: (under a cut for length, not because I'm embarrassed or ashamed to talk about anxiety/etc... actually I'd talk about it forever if you let me) Handy dandy tracking spreadsheet. Feel free to make a copy and adapt to your own needs.

I've just completed my 2017 road map, and my main focus for this year fitness wise is going to be running some OCRs. This means I'm going to have to do a whole variety of training, but as the first one won't be until April that gives me this challenge to focus purely on strength. And as I'm focusing on strength I though what better place to be than over with the warriors for a challenge to see what I can learn from you lovely people. I've been working through Starting Strength since the beginning of November and I'm starting to struggle with some of the lifts, so this will also be an opportunity to find out if there any form issues that are holding me back, or whether it's going to be time to move on the an intermediate program. To goals! Eat - 15XP What? Eat the right things as much as possible, and limit the bad stuff Why? In order to lift strong I need to eat strong, and eat right. How? i. Pack breakfasts for work at least 4/5 days per week. ii. Pack lunches for work at least 4/5 days per week. iii. No buying nonsense at all this challenge. I have enough rubbish left over from Christmas in my house without buying anything on top of that. Nonsense is the food I know is just silly - chocolate, cake, crisps etc. Sleep - 10XP What? Set myself up to get a decent amount of sleep. Why? Because my body needs recovery time to get stronger, and because I aim to workout early in the morning before work, meaning I have to get up on time. How? i. In bed every day by 10:30pm, or within 45 minutes of getting home, whichever later. ii. No caffeine after 4pm on any day. Lift - 15XP What? Keep lifting! Why? Because that's the whole focus of the challenge! Also, it's fun! How? Lift 3x per week following Starting Strength, no exceptions! This should be at the expense of all other exercise - if I have to miss a workout it can be anything else but not this. Like It - 10XP What? Keep a positive attitude to lift by keeping track of the things you're thankful for. Why? Because I want to be a happy, positive person, and I hope this will keep me on track for that. How? Record one positive statement in my bullet journal every day, and share them on here unless they're really personal. So that's a wrap! Looking forward to kicking off on this tomorrow, and on looking through everyone else's threads!

Hello and welcome all to my last challenge of the year! Things have been a bit mad the last couple of months, and my mood has been a bit all over the place with a big dollop of worry on top. And I don't want to be worried, or angry, or upset, I want to be positive and looking forward. With that in mind, this month I try to become Mr Positivity. Mr Positivity - 15XP What? Say and record positive things, to help me keep a positive mindset. Why? Because I want to be a more positive person. How? Record something positive in my journal every day, and report it on here. It can be anything; something about myself, something good about my day, something I'm thankful for etc. Mr Strong - 15XP What? Continue getting in the gym. Why? Because it makes me feel good about myself, and because I want to get stronger. How? Get to the gym 3 x per week, continuing starting strength. No Excuses despite Christmas and all that jazz. This takes precedence over all other exercise. Mr Sleepy - 15XP What? Get some more sleep! Why? Because I need it, for body and mind, or I feel dreadful. How? Get to bed each night by 10:30, or within 45 minutes of getting home, whichever the latter Mr Writer - 10XP What? Keep up with my Bullet Journal Why? Because I'm liking it as a way to keep track of challenges, and I'm hoping that as I get used to it it will actually make me more productive. How? i. Journal every day. ii. Report on here if I fail to complete any to-dos. iii. Complete all month to-dos at some point. Also, this just popped into my head: So that's that, nothing too fancy this month but hopefully a winning set of goals. Onward!

Okay, so those of you who have been following my challenges know that I've not had the best time of things of late. Between illness and misfortune, I'm still sitting at a much lower total than I'd like and feeling kinda down because I don't really have a coach who bucks me up when things are going badly. Things might turn around after this weekend but just feeling resigned to getting there and making a total rather than setting the world on fire. Anyway, as an antidote to this, I have decided that the next challenge needs to be about having fun! I don't have a coach after the weekend, so either I'll be on my own or I'll be starting up with a new coach. Either way, I need to let loose a bit. So... Here are the goals! Eat, Drink and Be Merry NO food tracking. Weight tracking is allowable (and I'll log it as usual) but food will not be measured or judged. I need to have a bit of fun! Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Make time to go and have fun with friends. I would like to do the following this month: Go skating at an outdoor rink (and I'm dragging @TeeCam with me) Go for mulled wine at the markets Eat one of the gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches that I've been lusting after Arrange a girls lifting meet-up Attend my friend's Squats, Cake and Gin party Arrange a local Nerd-Up See Star Wars: Rogue One See Fantastic Beasts Eat mince pies Progress through World of Final Fantasy Push It I mean go harder... Nah, I want to get a bench PB so, even if I don't get it in competition, I'm going to go for an over 80kg bench at some point this month. Spin, Spin, Spin Get back to pole dancing at least once and clear out the spare room so I can get my own pole to practice. I've missed pole for ages so I really want to get back to doing that!

Here we go again! It's going to be a fire coloured challenge: my rash is acting up, I'm burning down old habits, and Christmas is coming! It seems that my challenges are made of guidelines that I test out in my ongoing quest of losing weight. At the end of the last challenge, I came up with a mixture of intuitive eating and calorie counting, which I'm testing out. The concept is simple: every day, I have a list of foods to eat, and I can eat them whenever I want. The point is to liberate myself from obsessing over mealtimes and counting calories: I'm gonna learn to listen to my body's signals, and since the calories are already counted, I can just pick the foods from the list. Boom. There are two different templates: for the days when I eat lunch at home, and days when I eat lunch at a university restaurant. The list is currently on a Word file, and I just mark down what I've already eaten. The calories have been already counted, so I just need to pick the items I want - if I eat only what's on the list, I know that my calories are in check, and... well, it's just simple. I have a certain amount of calories assigned for certain food groups (for example, meat: 350 calories), but I can shift and modify, if need be (if I have 150 calories left for eating eggs and I know that I'm gonna have fish for dinner, I can drop the eggs and have that fish instead). Since I'm already active and enjoy exercising 2-3 times a week, this is going to be my only goal this challenge. Keep it simple, stupid! Let's do this!

It's time for a new challenge! During the last challenge, I put up the Foxy Business, and the company's kicked off pretty nicely. I learned new things, and it's time to modify the business strategy! Where are we now? I've dealt with a bunch of emotional baggage, and I'm in a better place than two months ago. My stress levels have been very low for many weeks, and I'm noticing a huge change in my energy levels! I don't know how much I weigh, currently, but I'm taking a break from calorie counting and the scale during this challenge. Usually, when I hit 70 kg, my motivation drops - so, if I don't know the number on the scale, I'm only going to have to keep doing my best Where are we going? Towards stronger, healthier, happier me, and beautiful booties. I sometimes have a feeling that my life is pointless, but I now do my very best to see life as a wonderful possibility that's given to me, and I believe that being as healthy as I can will give me more possibilities to do what I want. That's where I'm going! Goal 1: Mental Training The biggest part of my weight loss journey. Every morning, I will dedicate at least 5 minutes to focus on the day ahead of me and visualize the way I want to act in certain situations (such as unexpected treats, not snacking). I'm just going to sit down, close my eyes, and go through a list of things I want to do. Some sort of purposeful meditation, if you will. Goal 2: Nutrition During the last challenge I realized that adding more protein in my diet keeps me filled longer and holds my energy levels high. During this challenge, I will focus on adding protein to my diet, and follow three simple guidelines: no snacking eat mindfully; focus on portion sizes one daily snack allowed, and one bigger treat every week That's it. No calorie-counting, just these three guidelines. ** As you can see, I have two main goals/business strategies in this challenge. In addition, I will do a kettlebell + bodyweight training WO twice a week (didn't make this a goal in case I get sick). DA WORKOUT PLAN (DISCLAIMER: I made up these workouts myself. I'm not a health or fitness professional, and if oyu want to try either of these workouts, you do it at your own risk. Thanks!) I'm gonna do two workouts every week: workout A and workout B. They are circuit workouts that combine kettlebells and strength training exercises. Each workout consists of three rounds. One round lasts 9 minutes: (2 min kettlebell + 1 min strength training) x 3 with 2 minutes of rest between rounds. This means that one workout takes me exactly 31 minutes, plus warm-up and cool-down. Each round has two exercises, A (2 min) and B (1 min). I do these two exercises three times without breaks, which means that one round lasts 9 minutes. WORKOUT A ROUND 1 A: 2 min kettlebell swings B: 10 push-ups AB x 3 ROUND 2 A: 2 min snatches B: 20 deadlifts AB x 3 ROUND 3 A: "stopped" figure-8 B: 20 mountain climbers AB x 3 WORKOUT B ROUND 1 A: 2 min kettlebell swing B: 15 squats AB x 3 ROUND 2 A: 2 min "stopped" figure-8 B: 16 single-leg deadlifts AB x 3 ROUND 3 A: 2 min kettlebell swing B: 30 second plank * AB x 3 *hold the last one as long as you can (DISCLAIMER: I made up these workouts myself. I'm not a health or fitness professional, and if oyu want to try either of these workouts, you do it at your own risk. Thanks!) Let's get this challenge going!

Hello, Druids! Time for another challenge This time around, I'm trying something different! BODY STRATEGY I’m having a course on organizational communications, and I’ve learned that in order for a company to thrive, it needs a business strategy. This challenge is a start for my body strategy: I will determine rules and instructions that I can follow in order to reach my body goal, which is currently to weight 68 kg / 149 lbs. The body strategy will help me deal with unexpected situations, and make sure that I'm working towards my main goal. Current Main Goal weigh 68 kg by Christmas 2016. Challenges Uncontrolled eating, false idea of current situation, failure to plan. Solutions Create a body strategy. Assess the current situation, find the things to improve on, and create instructions that’ll help you deal with unexpected situations. This will remove the emotion from decision-making, and reinforces the feeling of being in control. Known associates and resources Nerd Fitness, Mom, my brother, friends. Myfitness application. Youtube, Pinterest. Body history and current situation 25, female, 170 cm / 71 kg I’ve been overweight since childhood; I’ve been somewhat active, especially during my teenage years, but my food choices have been poor. It’s been two years since I started losing weight for real, and I’m currently down 19 kg / 41 lbs (90 kg / 198 lbs -> 71 kg / 156 lbs). I lost 7 kg last winter, and maintained around 71 kg during the summer. Now I feel like I’ve hit a plateau, and I struggle to maintain. I’ve been doing this for so long that I’ve got confident in wrong ways – it’s time to hit the refresh button! I’m currently seeing a psychologist, and I’m working on some issues that have been causing me anxiety for years (bullying, abuse). My problem has always been that I haven't felt like I have the right to determine how my body looks like and what it does - I haven't been my own leader. Things are starting to look better, and this is also affecting my weight loss motivation: I felt very “meh” the whole summer, thinking negatively and seeing losing weight as pointless. Now that I’m dealing with the issues I have, I’ve also found my will to keep getting healthier, as well. It's been very empowering to realize that I am my own leader, and I have the right to get myself and this body where I want. I'm in a good place to start working on finding new solutions and strategies! Tracking success I will be weighing myself in on every day, and write down a weekly average on Sundays. This is only for the duration of this first challenge: tracking weight will give me an idea of how the body strategy works. ** I'm having three goals this time around. Goal 1: Mental Toughness No better ally than your own feelings and mindset! This is a mental challenge that needs to be done daily. This needs to be done all day, but 5 minutes of mindful focused Mental Toughness training a day will be a good addition. How to cultivate Mental Toughness: visualize success (see yourself skipping that snack, remember the rewards) talk positively to yourself remember that bad things aren’t permanent, pervasive, or personal; good things are don’t follow someone else’s program: lead yourself according to your own Goal 2: Nutrition Track 4 days a week. Nutrition guidelines are as follows: 1600 kcal a day 3 meals, 2 snacks: 400 breakfast, 200 snack, 400 lunch, 200 snack, 400 dinner one treat allowed daily one bigger treat allowed weekly In case of snack attack Has it been over two hours since your last meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner?) Have a snack. Allowed snacks: one portion of vegetables one portion of fruit a boiled egg avocado Goal 3: Exercise All about getting the body moving after a long time of "meh". Exercise is supposed to support the body's energy levels, not to break it. 2 strength training exercises a week, 30 min at a time a light yoga session every day ** Here we go! I'm starting officially tomorrow with a weigh-in. Let's do this!

“Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. Thus power generation processes and energy sources actually involve conversion of energy from one form to another, rather than creation of energy from nothing.” The law of conservation of energy. It’s an irrefutable fact of physics. We talk about it a lot in relation to weight loss. Calories in, calories out. But I wonder; what would this look like in terms of the way I spend my daily energy? The way I spend my life? I tend to think about some things as "requiring energy" while others don't. But that's not true. Everything requires energy, according to the first law. And I have all that energy already within me. So it's up to me to be conscious how I spend it. So this challenge I'll still be making my to do list. But I want to explore limiting it. And reflect on what gets done -- and what doesn't. How am I choosing to spend my energy?

Ello All! I'm here for this challenge and I'm utterly excited. Quick note of who I am: Female 4 kids (2 canine, 2 human) Married to a magical man I love riding bike Strives for energy and understanding of what I eat and how it affects me My moods change more then the weather. I am training for a new job! First time I've worked in a year and a half. Here's my Long Term Goals: Ride 1000 miles this year (I'm at 380 miles) Lose my bloated gut Have unbelievable energy Be like Jeannie Gaffigan on the Jim Gaffigan Show We just watched the first season, and I love how supportive her character is for her husband and energetic she is towards her kids. Here's my challenges to get me there (baby steps). (Just note I had to re do my point system and I think this one makes more sense and easier to stay on track) Diet Small portions, big greens (1 pt) Focus on Anti-inflammatory foods, detox (2 pts) I know what foods bloat me. A large pancake is different then putting a little honey in my green tea. No eating after 8pm (2pts) Total Daily Diet Points: 5 pts. Total Weekly Points: 35 Fitness Ride minimum of 25 miles a week ( 2 pts for each 5 miles) I'm scratching this one off for now, due to certain circumstance, so I am going to sub it for this: Stay active through out day (2pt) Sit a maximum of 30 minutes at a time (2pt) Body workout twice a week (3pts) Stretch 5 minutes every morning (2pts) Stretch after workouts (Extra Credit 2pts) Total Daily Points: 6 pts. Total Weekly Fitness points: 57 pts Life Have sleep routine ( 2 pts) Wake up 5:30am (or early enough to get 1 hour to self) to get "me" time ( 2 pts ) Keep up on Journals (1 pt) Stay positive with kids ( 2 pts ) Total Daily Life points: 7 pts Total Weekly Points: 49 Total Daily points 20 points Total points for week 141!! I am going to do this with flying colors!

"I won't give up, no I won't give in 'til I reach the end and then I'll start again. No I won't leave. I wanna try everything. I wanna try even though I could fail." I'm returning after a month hiatus for my next challenge. This song has sort of been my anthem for the past couple of weeks. It makes me smile and gets me pumped up too Here are my goals for this challenge. Goal #1 Physical Activity I would like to do some sort of physical activity at least 6 days a week. I know this sounds like a lot, but it could be as simple as a five minute walk. Out of these six days, at least two should be a little more difficult such as cardio or strength training. Goal #2 Healthy Eating/Meal Prep I would like to prep my lunches every Sunday for the week. As a teacher, I sometimes skip lunch, by cooking my meals for the week beforehand, I hope to prevent skipping lunch. My meals will include a protein and a vegetable. So I should be eating a veggie at least five times a week. Goal #3 Perseverance This is where the song comes in. Realistically, I will have days that I mess up on my goals. I'm really not trying to be pessimistic here, but it's likely that I will at times fall. The issue is when I fall, I beat myself up and get discouraged. When this happens, I'm going to listen to this song, and remind myself that I'm not giving up on myself. Like the song says - "Don't beat yourself up. Don't need to run so fast. Sometimes we come last, but we did our best." Goal #4 Look At The World With New Eyes Now I'm bringing Zootopia stuff in here *Some minor spoilers follow* One of my favorite scenes of the movie is when Judy gets on the train to Zootopia. The amazement on her face as she sees this large city for the first time gets me every time. I want to see the world differently - as a fantastic and beautiful place. So I'm going to search for something beautiful everyday. *End Minor Spoilers* In summary, I'm looking forward to this challenge. Now everyone sing with me "I won't give up no I won't give in 'til I reach the end and then I'll start again. No I won't leave. I wanna try everything. I wanna try even though I could fail. Oh oh oh oh oh Try everything!"

So I've been pretty obsessed with the Spideyfit YouTube channel lately... What's not to love about a Spider-Man cosplayer who does fitness videos? In the below video Spideyfit states there are 3 important skillsets needed to become your own superhero. Strength, flexibility, and endurance. So I'll be basing my fitness quests on these principles. The focus this time around will be on maintaining existing habits and building new ones. Quest 1: Strength I'm currently following a programme based on the Start Bodyweight basic program, but slightly modified to suit my needs. After about 3 weeks I'm already seeing/feeling more progress than I've had in the last 6-8 months. Clearly something is working! The goal here is simply to ensure I do my resistance workout at least 3 times a week. Depending on how the days fall, I may get in 4. But the idea is to never go below 3 session a week. Quest 2: Flexibility Every day I will spend at least 5 minutes working on stretching and/or mobility. **The amount may increase to 10 minutes if 5 proves too easy.** Quest 3: Endurance Perform two intense cardio sessions per week, lasting 15-20 minutes or more. I get a good amount of low impact cardio from walking, but I'm slowly moving over to a more speed focussed approach rather than the endurance stuff I've been doing the last couple of years. I will probably be rotating between interval sprints on an exercise bike, working on increasing my 5k trail run time, or doing hill sprints. Quest 4 (life quest): Adulting Spend 30 minutes a day doing some form of adulting. The time isn't super important, it's really just there to make sure I actually do some form of meaningful or useful adulting. Tasks will likely include job searching, cleaning, organizing financial stuff, and a myriad of all the other fun adulting tasks that everyone loves and enjoys! I will be on holiday from the 20th - 27th. These days the time will be reduced to 10 minutes. Bonus Quests Share the awesome - Weekly highlight reel edition! The last few quests I've been sharing a daily awesome, it's been super fun and uplifting, but doesn't really fit the main challenge this time around. Instead I will post a weekly highlight reel of various little bits of happiness and win that I have encountered that week. Assassin's Guild Minichallenge ..TBA..

GOALS NOW ADDED (original post below) I have confidence in me Say something nice about yourself every day and share with the class. Push It Eat 2600 calories a day (or an average of 18200 a week) and evaluate based on how my weight fluctuates. I like to move it, move it Do yoga once a week. Go to pilates once a week. Have a massage once during the challenge. Sing Sing. Don't care when or how or if I post video, but just to spend a little bit of time once a week singing either at the piano or along to musicals. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, so I'm hitting the post-comp low. I'm feeling like I only won because I was lucky and everyone else is improving faster than I am. I hit comp PBs across the board and still I feel like I'm rubbish! I really need to sort my mindset! I'm going to keep this challenge simple. Lift things. Make friends. Try not to whine as much. Meh... I'll try to work out the challenge in full later. Ideas welcome!

Placeholder at the moment, but there will be housework-related goals, some focus on positivity after a few months of being peeved at feeling fat and useless, loads of pictures of me jaunting around Thailand and preparation for doing so. SpecialSundae sparkles with positivity Look for something in every day that is positive and share it. Bounce with happiness when I can. Try to ignore the demons but share them to allow other people to help when it's bad. Say something positive about every workout. Do your accessory work (maximum two sessions compressed into one, which means two sessions a week at minimum, aim to do it after each actual training session but we all know that won't happen) and aim for progression. SpecialSundae sparkles with innovation Find a way to get the letter of authenticity for REPS registration. Plan out the first four weeks of the barbell training course Plan out social media engagement and announcements Plan out booking scheme SpecialSundae makes her house sparkle too Clean the kitchen and bathroom every weekend until I go away Hoover the living room and bedroom once a week Change the sheets once a week Do at least two loads of laundry a week Put away all laundry at the weekend SpecialSundae spreads some sparkle to her spouse Spend quality time with Grant Spend at least one night a week playing Marvel Superheroes with Grant until we go away Leave the phones in our room (or at least switched off) for at least one evening meal out of two whilst in Thailand Spend time with Grant planning a few excursions and pre-book as needed - thinking of doing a cycle tour in Bangkok and a visit to a Thai boxing match in Ao Nang In the meantime, here's my thought for the day from yesterday... Any time you feel strong, squat with someone who lifts triple what you do. You'll suddenly feel very weak and insignificant!

PROJECT: B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Balance Restore Energize Accomplish Transform Humor Engage With the new year come the hope that we can keep a good handle on whatever life throws at us. We're pretty good at it, but there is always something out there that puts a wrench into our plan. Especially when it comes to taking care of ourselves. Thus, I introduce Project: B.R.E.A.T.H.E. As we work through our quests and adventures to happiness, it's important to have a reminder to take that needed breath. That is my hope for this group. While we work to help each other succeed in our fitness quests, we can also assist each other in conquering life's road bumps. Each day, a calming quote or image will be shared with the group. Take a few minutes (5 minutes minimum) to reflect on it. Can you relate to it? Can it help you find peace after a stressful day? Can it help you remind yourself that it's okay if you find yourself not meeting a goal? At the end of each week, I would like to review any negative events that may have impacted us. Rather than focus on the negative, though, I would like to put a positive spin on them. How can we make the bad into good? How can we fall asleep with a smile rather than with a stress-filled brain? All are welcomed and encouraged to follow each other, though the latter is purely optional! Enjoy and remember to breathe.

Although technically this is my... fifth challenge. I guess I just wanted to throw a Doctor Who reference in there what with the Regeneration and all. Second verse same as the first! 1. DO PHYSICAL THERAPY 2. EAT GLUTEN FREE 3. WRITE GOOD THINGS

The one in which Mad Hatter pulls her head out of her ass The past six months have been hectic, for starters I’ve moved flat twice, been to Argentina, Thailand, Barcelona, Laponia and I’ve injured myself - twice. As a result I’ve been struggling to get into solid exercise routines and lost a bit of ground from last year. Instead of accepting my current level and doing whatever I can I’ve often made up excuses and stuck my head in the sand. And instead of being happy about all the fun and cool things I CAN do I’ve been sulking about the things that I can’t do. I’m getting bored with that attitude. It's lame, it won’t get me anywhere near my crazy epic goal of gaining contortion level flexibility and skill, and it’s no fun for anyone. This challenge I’m going to focus on fixing my mental game, pull my head out of my ass and focus on being awesome. Goal #1 Stop being hard on myself Stop comparing myself to others, to my “past†self, or to where I “should†be. I’m strongly counting on you guys and B to slap me whenever I use words like “I used to be able to..â€, “I did this awesome thing, BUT…â€, “I suckâ€, you get the drill. I’ll be counting slaps, and aim to reduce the number of slaps every week. Post daily win Goal #2 Lose the flab I’ve been complaining about my weight for a while now and done nothing about it. Well, I’m doing something about it. I’m aiming to eat 12000 calories/week plus I’m allowed to eat back any calories from running Goal #3 Weekly routine Third time’s the charm? I’m going to keep this goal in every challenge until I run out of excuses. 2x backbends 2x handstands 1x active flexibility Side quest #1: Be awesome There’s so many fun things to play with, and I’m going to do them all. As a side quest I’m going to collect awesome points for all the shiny things. No pressure, just fun. Ideas for fun things Slacklining (extra awesome points for walking across the whole line)Armbalances (extra shiny awesome points for crane pose)Climbing (awesome points for each new problem solved)Flow movementAcro in the park (when summer comes)Lindy hop by the lake (when summer comes) Side quest #2: Sew a dress I bought fabric for a dress over a month ago and it's still untouched, so I'm making it a goal to finish it.