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She blinked as she woke up. She reached for her glasses on the nightstand...good god, it's covered with stuff. What happened to the sleek modern nightstand with a couple magazines and a fancy ipad that controlled the lights? This place is a wreck. She finds her phone...it's 7 am. She never wakes up that early without an alarm. Slowly she begins to remember. She's not in London anymore. The view outside her window is no longer the impenetrable Tower of London, it's...a two-story 1960s LA apartment building. She can see the smog in the distance, and it's already pushing 85 degrees. The mission was a success. She ran through the tasks: the dry suit diving at the Churchill Barriers to get the keys to the Tower. The coded message from the shepherd in the highlands, delivered in morse via sheep shears. The unexpected rendezvous with an agent she'd known since childhood. The coordinates, hidden in plain sight at Westminster. And finally, the disaster thwarted when she returned the missing treasure to its spot in the Tower. It had been a great success, and no one would ever hear about it. And now she was back at home, awaiting the next gig. Maybe this time she'd try to settle down. Work a regular job, that kind of thing. It seemed impossible, but who knows? Stranger things have happened. ---- Well, I'm back from a 3 week vacation in Scotland & London and I barely know what real life is anymore. I'm crashing hard from the long time away from work, all the walking, the good food, the time outdoors, and of course, all the people and problems I ignored while I was gone! I'm trying a gentle re-entry challenge to get my head back in the regular day-to-day, with a little bit of travel inspiration thrown in. What I love about traveling: I don't worry about anything that isn't actually important. I see lots of cool new stuff and have a lot of time to think. I have far fewer possessions to deal with and all of my possessions get used regularly. I intentionally use things up rather than saving them for a just-in-case scenario. What I don't love about travelling: I don't take care of my body as well (eat bad food, don't work out, don't hydrate) I spend too much money My quest for this challenge: To retain the magical spirit of vacation but also To rebuild the habits that support me (It's also the one-year anniversary of my last re-spawn, as well as QUEST #1: Work out 2x per week. Although I'm behind on my yearly workout goal by 9 workouts, now is not the time to go crazy on adding workouts! Before the trip I was solidly at 2x/week and I am sure I can achieve that again. QUEST #2: Eat vegetables every day. I have a lot of support here from my partner who is also lamenting the large quantities of potatoes we ate in the UK. QUEST #3: Get to bed by 10 pm every work night. I will sleep minimum 8 hours per night, and get to bed before 10 pm each night. QUEST #4: Write and post a poem every day. I'd really like to do more here (like get my Patreon page set up) but for now I want to just keep up the momentum I had on this project while I was travelling. I'm also trying some new strategies for managing my day-to-day life that I'd like to record here without making them part of the official challenge: Don't fill up your to-do list just because you have things to do. In fact, if you fill it up, you're doing it wrong. To-do list should be reserved for things that are actually going to get done, not things you are idly considering. Clothing diet: this is something I've done after trips before, where I wear the same clothes I wore on my trip for about a month after I return. Often the things I packed for the trip are among my favorite clothing and it reminds me that I can get rid of clothes I'm not wearing AND I can get by with fewer clothes. One fun thing, one work thing: I gotta keep doing laundry and stuff but I don't have to only do laundry. I will prioritize one fun activity every day. Save money wherever possible. Stay in, eat in, prep lunches. Okay, it's about 3 am according to my body so off I go to bed. I'm excited for the challenge ahead and really trying not to overstuff it.

Continuing Main Quest:Under 200 Lbs by 30th birthday (12/04/14). Mini Quests: 1. Get Stronger [sTR +3]Increased upper body strength through Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, Chin-Ups, Bench Press, DB Fly, etc. A = 10+ Pull-Ups In A RowB = 5 Pull-Ups In A RowC = 10 Chin-Ups In A RowD = 5 Chin-Ups In A RowF = <5 Chin-Ups In A Row 2. Run Faster [DEX +3] [sTA +3]Beat high school best 1 mile time of 8:00/Mi through interval training and increased mileage. A = Faster than 8:00/MiB = 8:00-8:30/MiC = 8:30-9:00/MiD = 9:00-9:30/MiF = Slower than 9:30/Mi 3. Clean Eating [CON +3] [WIS +1]Incorporate larger amounts and greater variety of produce (Fruits/Veg) into my diet.Fast food and Beer negate all progress for the day. A = Average of 7+ servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekB = Average of 6+ Servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekC = Average of 5+ Servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekD = Average of 4+ Servings of Any Produce per day in a given weekF = Average of <4 Servings of Any Produce per day in a given week 4. Life Quest [WIS +2]Put away money to fund our Europe Trip ($1500+) A = Saved $1000+B = Saved $750-1000C = Saved $500-750D = Saved $250-500F = Saved <$250 Starting Stats (14 Apr 2014):Weight 218.6 lbsWaist 42"Hips 42"Chest 40.5"Biceps 15.5" & 15.5"Legs 25" & 25"Calves 16" & 16"Neck 15.5" After a rough end to the last challenge, I'm back at it with new goals, new drive, and greater success. I have revised the grading system to be more encouraging, as the points system last time did not work. No more daily goals, instead focusing on weekly averages to maintain morale and focus. I'm also not going to follow 30+ people like last time, as I ended up reading everyone's posts many days later and without contributing much. This approach will make me a better community member by being more producer than consumer. The focus of my workouts is on doing upper body workouts at home with dumbbells (Bench, Fly, Shoulder Press, Front Raise...etc) during the evenings (commercials lol) roughly every other day, and Interval running in the mornings before work. I'll be eating a loosely paleo diet, with the main emphasis being on more vegetables. I considered adding a Walking Dead / Survival theme to this challenge like I have done in the past, but don't want to get too distracted by this.

I'm ready to have a little fun with this! In February, I started trying the Paleo/Primal diet and signed up for a diet bet. While I didn't win the diet bet, I did lose some weight. Since Feb, I've lost over 15 pounds, but really I've plateaud for the past two months. I'm ready to get past this point. This looks like a fun way to do it! My Goals: 1. lose weight: 10 pounds is the goal. 12+ pounds would be a stretch goal 2. cut out caffeinated drinks - I've kind of already started on this, but the goal would be to have zero caffeine in the final two weeks of the challenge (work up to it before then) 3. go for mile+ walks 4 to 5 days per week. goal would be 25 walks in the 6 weeks. strech goal would be 31. Life Goals: 1. work 7 to 10 hours a week on my personal projects I read somewhere a quote something like, if you aren't working for yourself, you are making money for somebody else. I want to eventually have my own company. I believe I have the talent and the ideas. I just have to put forth the time and work. 2. save some money - I want to have $150 in my "new Biz" savings account at the end of 6 weeks, without missing any other bills or payments or anything. I'll have to spend some effort on figuring out a way to make these posts more readable/fun, but for now that's what I've got. Next step is to come up with some concrete steps to take over the next 6 weeks towards successfully completing my goal.