Search the Community

My main quest is to lose weight and fit into size 10 clothing by my 39th birthday on February 27th. Currently I weigh 201 and wear sizes 16/18 clothing. The missions for this 6 week challenge that will help me achieve success in my main quest are as follows: I will be disciplined about eating a 100% primal diet. I also plan to follow the Primal Blueprint Fitness plan. Since I am not regularly exercising right now I will ease into this plan. I will walk every day during my lunch break (even if I am not feeling like it) unless it is raining. If it is raining I will need to make-up the walking on the treadmill when I get home from work. The only rainy day exception will be Thursdays when I don't get home until 9:30pm. I will also do some form of cardio one of the weekend days. The other day will be a rest day. Total weekly cardio will be a minimum of 3 hours. During the 6 weeks, after my body has adjusted to the daily cardio I will add bodyweight strength training two days a week for 30 minutes each. By the end of the challenge I will have added one sprint session of 15 minutes per week. (I am not sure if this counts as 2 large missions or 1 large and 3 smaller missions.) I plan on keeping track of my progress on the fitness missions on an excel spreadsheet. My goals for this 6 week challenge will be to break through the plateau that I have been on since September and to increase my strength and endurance. Since I will be performing in a small chamber orchestra (the first time since high school) for a Christmas Cantata in mid-December my life quest during the next six-weeks is to practice my violin for 30 minutes every day. The motivation for my main quest is to be happy with my body and be an inspiration for my children. The motivation for my life quest is not to be embarrassed during the Christmas performance.

http://youtu.be/2H3KhucexJE Anybody ever play Chrono Trigger? Just wondering. The last challenge went pretty well, but it also saw me get really humbled in terms of what I could do and what I could commit. I rediscovered the Primal Blueprint, and saw how I could use it to get really intense and really focused on my workouts, and make them short and effective, whilst at the same time freeing myself up to follow the diet properly and re-engage in martial arts. In the intervening period between the last challenge and this one, I have finally, finally gotten the WITS people to move forward on my certification, and with any luck I'll be certified in the next couple weeks. Happiness ensues. So. We have to have a challenge that puts all of these things together. I need to find my way back into the dojo. I'm already paying for it, so that's not the problem. The problem is that I need to make a habit of going, and of looking for opportunities to go. It's gonna be tough, but I think I have some solutions. Goal 1: Sprint Once Per Week It's finally spring time, and I've found a nice field to go running in on a day when no one else is doing anything. Go me. Goal is to go fast and hard, once per week. +2 STA, +1STR Goal 2: Lift Heavy Things 2-3 Times Per Week I've kept up with timing myself in my calisthenic workouts and it's official: these things are freaky fast. I've been completing them in less than twenty minutes. They're effective - I find myself dripping with sweat lately at the end of them, like it's a hybrid finisher slash progressive routine. And they're making me stronger - on a whim, I went to a gym with some friends of mine and decided to hit the bench press. I proceeded to bench 160 lbs for a 1RM. Given that my last 1RM was 135 lbs set about four years ago, I'm going to just assume that the cals work fine. +1 STR, +2 DEX, +1 WIS Goal 3: Martial Arts 2-5 Hours Per Week The Primal Blueprint calls for a solid base of low level activity, defined as kicking your heart rate up into the 55-75% range for two to five hours per week. It generally prescribes a pattern of movement, say, swimming or hiking. I enjoy those things very much, but my conditioning has got to the point where I can't just go for a walk and boost my heart rate up into that range. It just doesn't happen for me there. And besides. I'm a freaking martial artist. I should comport myself as such. Two to five hours per week on the mat should be plenty of time to practice, get the heart benefits, and give me some room to breathe if the friends decide they want to shanghai me for the weekend. +1 DEX, +1 STA, +1 CON LIFE GOAL: Write Your Story So, I realized something during Camp NaNoWriMo this month. I have seven novels lying around that I haven't bothered to finish. I don't need another unfinished story. I need to soldier through one and make it something worthwhile. But I haven't figured out how to balance that properly. I don't know how to balance new writing with old writing with submissions. Writing and exposure at this point is a one man game. But it all needs to be done. Week 1 is going to be dedicated to figuring out a system. The rest of the challenge will be dedicated to implementing that system. +2.5 WIS, +2.5 CHA One Last Edit! First Bodyfat Assessment done in a much more thorough manner due to having the day off. Diagnosis: 179.7 lbs at 19.3% body fat. This will be updated as time goes by.

I'm joining the Assassins for this challenge, after spending the last five challenges with the Rangers. There are a couple of reasons for this: My dexterity skill is ridonkulously low. It just hasn't been a priority, but this skill in particular will help me meet other goals in my life. Bodyweight workouts and other dexterity/agility activities are of interest to me right now.I need to get in the habit of specializing more IRL...I need to stop trying to Do All the Things. I'm taking a break from the jack-of-all-trades mindset.I have pined after parkour for years but was too scared to try it. I just watched Felicia Day learn some basic parkour on The Flog, and I thought, if she can do it, I can do it. Current routine: Diet: Whole30 thru April 30, off-plan day May 1, paleo May 2-May 31. Sleep: Wake up at 5am and use the first 2 hours of the day for my workout + journaling + meditating. Exercise: PBF LHT 2 nonconsecutive days/wk; Galloway 5k training (slow pace) 3 days/wk; 2 off/yoga days. Starting Stats: F, 31 Height: 5'8" Weight: 187lbs Waist (navel): 37in Hips: 42.5in Body Fat: 38.72% Goals: Routine: Wake up at 5am EVERY DAY (including weekends!). (+3 STA) / Strategy: Bedtime by 9pm; Tech-free from 8pm-9pm; alarm clock on the other side of the bedroom so I have to get up to turn it off.Strength: Complete my Level One of PBF LHT. (+3 DEX, +3 STR) / Strategy: PBF LHT workouts 2x/wk.Know Where You've Been - Log food intake daily and workouts as completed. (+1 WIS, +1 CON) / Strategy: MFP for food and sexy spreadsheet for workouts. Use my MFP tracking to find my caloric sweet spot.Big Changes: Kitchen Licensure - Complete three or more tasks from this list. (+2 CHA, +2 WIS) --Contact landlord re: water test and septic specs. (Done 4/15/13) --Contact water testing facility to complete test. --Obtain copies of septic specs paperwork from landlord. --Reorganize kitchen to meet professional licensure criteria. --Switch selected recipes to metric and draft detailed instructions. --Submit application/water test results/septic specs for licensure. --Submit metric recipes and product samples to State testing facility. --Request appointment for kitchen inspection after product samples have passed testing for sale to the public. Unofficial Goals: Minimalism - reduce the number of things I own / clean out parts of the house that are collecting clutter. Play - do some fun stuff outdoors, especially incorporating bodyweight movements from my PBF LHT workouts. Connect - Spend a little time each day checking in with my NF friends. The past couple challenges I check in the first week, then nothing for the next 3 weeks and people wonder if I've wandered off into the Maine woods and gotten lost, then lots of checking in the last week or two. This time I want to make a point to check in on my own thread and on my fellow Rebels' threads at least 3-4 times per week EVERY week, barring some horrible life circumstance that might prevent me from doing so. **If I clean at least one room in the house that needs it + do at least 4 play sessions outdoors + post on NF EVERY week without missing any weeks, I get to get myself some new NF merch! Sambie's 6th Challenge Theme Songs: "Some Nights" & "Carry On" - Fun.