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A ranger? Oh no! I've been an assassin so long. Okay, not that long, but the Rangers is the largest guild, and as Plutarch, "I live in a small city, and I prefer to dwell there that it may not become smaller still," I didn't want to be a ranger, EVERYONE'S a ranger, come on now. But maybe it's time for me to accept that the real action is in Rome/that my entire life is a mediation of the driving need to do ALL THE THINGS with the necessity of choosing some subset of Things to actually get done, at risk of being paralyzed by how very many things there are in the universe. So: Ranger. I went to a hockey game last week, and decided I wanted to learn how to skate on hockey skates/maybe eventually play hockey. So, I have three fitness Things that I want to keep up this challenge: -Gymnastics: Wednesday/Sunday, with Wednesday being my main training day where I can go to the gym while EVERYONE ELSE is there and marvel at all the gymnastics happening, and Sunday I come in a bit early before I coach my adult class to do some flips. Lifting: Tuesday/Thursday/Friday. I'm still trying for Thursday, even though i teach a Zoom class at 2:30 and had been spending Thursday mornings wandering around the house muttering maniacally to myself about math for a pretend audience. But if I take the car to the gym that morning then I'll have plenty of time. (I usually take the bus.) Skating: Once a week! There's open skate Mondays 2:30-3:30, so I'm going to aim for that. I need to look up stopping, backwards skating, etc. Other things I will do this challenge: learn python (I got a summer job that... has something to do with data science? I literally have no idea what it is or how I was chosen but hey), learn classical mechanics (my one class that I am taking this semester is first-year physics, which yes hilariously I am taking first-year physics and teaching first-year math, because when I went back to school I MEANT to take science classes that I'd been scared to take in high school because I couldn't do math, but then I had to take a math prereq first, and fell into a rabbit hole of math, and now need to get around to those science classes, and going from differential equations last semester to a physics class which does not have calculus as a prereq this semester is a really bizarre form of whiplash and confusion), keep practicing and making reeds even though concerts are cancelled for the entire month, buy peg dope and new strings for my violin and take it out of the case for 15 min/day, keep up my now weeklong duolingo streak (anyone want to be duolingo friends? https://www.duolingo.com/profile/_tei) and-- GO TO BED BY 11:30 AND AIM TO WAKE UP BY 8 SO I HAVE TIME TO DO ALL THESE THINGS

Hi, my name is Stoney and I’m a serial quitter and shiny-thing chaser. This is my umpteenth respawn here in the forums but fuck it, why not try again? I play roller derby* for my local team in a southern western Australian country town and while that’s been great for my general physical and mental health, I’ve hit a bit of a plateau. And I’m a total perfectionist so I always want to be the best at everything I do. Yay self improvement! That does mean however that I get unmotivated much too quickly and get distracted trying the Cool New Thing™️ that I think is going to help me reach my goals. Nerd Fitness has proven itself to me many times over to be a great place to sort my shit out and get back on track with the things I want to improve on so here I am! *jazz hands* I also fucking love food. That is a problem that is clashing with my new office job. So I’m back. Wheely shoes on and weight plates loaded. I’m gonna be skating and lifting and tracking some food and trying not to blow all my money on Cool New Things™️ - and I would really appreciate the support of this amazing forum. I have some goals planned for the next 6 months so once I get it typed up expect a contribution to the next 4-week challenge. *full contact sport on roller skates, bit like rugby on skates with a human as the ball

So There is no better hockey theme in the world than Goon.... Which also happens to be the SO's and my favorite date night movie next to Deadpool. Meet Doug, The Thug... Glatt Fire under my ass time. I have been lazy, and un-motivated for quite a while. So I said F'it, I am going to (hopefully, which I managed but just) fit my ass back into my Hockey gear I bought years ago and finally learn how to play properly. I had set up my first personal lesson, and the lady training me said I would be fine going to the team clinic that her and her husband run so that is that. By summer season next year I will be on the rookie roster I know I am a warrior but I am putting the heavy shit down and getting some agility and endurance so rangers was the place to be. To complete this half year goal I need to... Train Hard! - Circuit Training/HIIT/Cross Training twice a week - Hockey Clinic on Wednesdays - Skate on Saturday or Sunday - Walk/Cardio twice a week - Yoga once a week Adult Hard! - Figure out daily/weekly chores and get them done - Get the new deck sealed weather permitting, hopefully it will get cool and dry enough to get this done - Get one disaster removed from the house, and possibly paint some shit. Lose Hard! - Keeping this simple, 1600 calories average with 1800 on hockey clinic day. Will fine tune if needed, but everything will be tracked in MFP Extra Credit * Save Hard! - Cancel Gym Memberships, and stop spending on frivolous shit so that I can afford the hockey clinics/skating and save up for the new car I want come December. Now to get to work...

Goal # 4 I will use my Scout skills to Skate 1 x a week This will be an aggressive skate with short sprints and high speed recovery times. I don’t really need to list this but I plan to keep track of it. Bike 3 x a week. I will ride to work at a leisurely pace. On the way home, I will stand and mash (high gear) and then sit and spin (low gear). Goal # 3 Exercise Plank x 7 a week Push up x 3 a week Chair dips x 3 a week From the last challenge, I found I started cramping from the aggressive ride on the way home so, Stretch x 7 a week Goal # 2 (Level up my life) Work 2 x a week in building or old house. With everything else going on, It is easy to ignore both of them. Goal # 1 (Level up my afterlife) Read the scriptures at night. (Matthew 16:26)

Okay, These 4 week challenges are great and all but I think for now I am going to amalgamate everything in the one log. That way my disjointed rambling posts will have some sort of backstory and probably make more sense. xD If you don't know me already (sheesh!) I am 24, australian, working in hopsitality, learning roller derby, and trying to live my aussie dream of owning a house with my lovely partner and gardens and no people and shit. Yeah! Most concise intro so far. Last challenge I focussed on tracking my food (having just come back from a 2-week holiday including an all-you-can-eat buffet) and trying to do some exercise and keep my house clean. The house cleaning plan got de-railed a little bit because everything ended up getting packed up and dragged over to our new house, so I have a clean slate to start again with good housework habits. (also, Mr. Tea said he'd buy me a dishwasher so booyeah!) For the next 4 weeks (at least, probably longer!) I want to be focussing on unpacking the rest of the boxes and throwing out anything I don't need, cleaning the old house, ticking off things on my house-moving list, and getting some sort of garden happening, as well as keeping the new house looking somewhat presentable. Awesome! I also want to re-route my derby focus to be working on the last few things that I need to pass my minimum skills, as well as get good at skills that come in handy in games but aren't necessarily skills that are demanded of you. I've been feeling a bit 'meh' about training since coming back from holiday but we've also had a string of public holidays depriving us of all our training sessions, so I need to get back in there! DERBY SKILLS LIST; 27in5 (currently 24) 360 transitions (at faster speeds!) side-skating / T-skating backwards crossovers pushing through walls core bracing THE HOUSE MOVING LIST: Get a mailbox - done, just need to put up Organise internet - waiting for tech support - still. Call the electricity company Order Gas Bottle Build a dog-fence Put in doggy door - completed (thanks dad!) Clean old house - Put bins out at old house Grab lemon tree from old house Take a load of rubbish to the tip Change addresses at various places (requires mailbox!) - Vehicle license + new license photo. - Car Insurance - Debit card - Superannuation - Work - Dentist - Spotlight (:P) Unpack Rooms; - Formal lounge - all the spare furniture is in here - move extra furniture to the shed - Ensuite - need to move a chest of drawers in for storage space - Craft Room Just gotta put my desk back in there Misc. Things Put up a washing line Oil the hammock stand Change ensuite shower head Stockpile wood for winter Got a good few weeks worth at least; ~ 8-10 wheelbarrow loads for now.

I’m the hero Gotham neither needs nor deserves, but they’re stuck with me. I don’t know what awaits me in the next dark alley or on the next rooftop, so I have to stay sharp and be ready for anything: scaling a wall, slugging a mook, making an escape. This is the city, and I’ve got to stay agile, fast and tough if I’m going to meet it head-on. In a nutshell: Exercise four times a week. Try a new workout or location once per week. Average 10k Fitbit steps per day. Write three hours per week. Meditate every day. Diet: No booze. Healthy snacks. I. Exercise four times a week. Simple. Flexible. Straightforward. What counts for this: 30 minutes of cardio. Running. Biking. Or something else. Gym machines if I must, but I’m going to try to get outdoors as much as I can. Walking isn’t enough, but a good-faith run/walk counts. I want to try some park trails and improve my running pace and endurance. Strength: Climbing. A full bodyweight workout routine of some kind. Or something else. I’m a little vaguer on this one because I want to discover some new routines or activities. I’ll be working on upper body strength for climbing as much as I can. Try something new: Every week I’m going to try either a new location or a new activity. This can be as simple as a new workout routine with exercises I haven’t tried before, but hopefully I’ll push myself into some bigger innovations. New parks? New climbing venues? Skating? Shovelglove? I DON’T KNOW. I want to discover some new stuff that I love doing. Also: Weekly fitbit steps average 10k/day II. Write three hours per week. Still workin’ on the book. It’s coming along. I kind of blew this one last challenge, but let’s see if I can do better this time. III. Daily meditation. 5-10 minutes is enough, just keeping it going daily. IV. Diet. No booze for the duration of the challenge. I’m drinking a lot less in general lately, but let’s make that official for four weeks. Also, keep some healthy snacks handy at work. I got some soup packets last week, but I need to get in the habit of having fruit and other healthy stuff around. I’ll keep track of my weight a couple times a week. Bonus points for (I won’t do all these, but let’s keep a list of stuff I want to do, to keep me motivated): Climbing a new/harder route that I haven’t tried yet Get the bike out of the shed and ride it at least once Finally take that belay class Finish the next chapter of the book Do a proper form pullup Run for 30 minutes without a walk break Participate in an Assassin guild mini-challenge Participate in a walking/Fitbit challenge Try a parkour class Do a virtual 5k Wear superhero-themed workout gear

You have a forum full of rebels, discussing fitness, and not a single one has started a skater thread? I'm kinda hurt... Are there any skaters within the rebel ranks? Tell us about yourself. What's your setup? Your favorite trick? Your favorite skater?

Hey all! I'm Huntress. I used to hang around these parts back in 2013, when I was lifting, obstacle racing and eating clean. Since that time, I fell out of lifting, into indoor rockclimbing, into roller derby and most recently... into being a couch potato. If I look at my old progress pics, I've pretty much gone back to square one. I'm here again to turn that around. And although slimming down is nice - I can't deny it - it's not my primary motivation. What motivates me is my desire to have a body that can do cool stuff, whether that's a heavy deadlift or delivering an epic roller derby hit. Since I'm no longer a newbie to the world of fitness or mindful eating, you'd think I'd just jump straight back into it by busting out some kettlebell swings and downing a kale-chia-kombucha smoothie, right? Well... I'd like to, but I have these crappy chronic diseases called depression and anxiety, and they've been raining on my parade pretty hard these last few months. So I need to take it slow, and focus on sustainable change that won't overwhelm me or give me panic attacks. Main quest: At the moment, my main big goal is to do a four-day hike in south-east Tasmania with my partner, as a 30th birthday gift to myself... I turn 30 in February, a few days after this challenge ends. I've come to the bitter realisation I need to shape up a bit to do that, but I still plan to do the hike before the end of April. Lifestyle quests: sleep, move, eat 1. Sleep My sleeping habits are awful. Improving them will improve my mental health as well as lay a foundation for good choices throughout the day. On weeknights (Sun-Thurs), in bed by 10.30, for lights out at 11. On weekends (Fri-Sat), lights out at midnight, unless I'm out partying, which happens only rarely.No computer while I'm in bed before sleep. All I can do with my computer is put it beside my bed and play online lectures until it's time for lights out, as this helps me sleep. On weeknights, before going to bed, follow this routine. 2. Eat This is where I'd like to see the biggest change during the challenge. I've been eating tons of crap at the moment. Now I'm on holidays I'm eating pretty well but the challenge will be keeping it up when I go back to work next week. Week one: plan two healthy snack boxes for work: one of snacks for under my desk, one of fresh fruit and veg for the fridge. Buy ingredients for snack boxes, take into work over the weekend and get set up for the week. Bring in lunch at least 2 days. Home-cooked meals (either me or partner) 5 nights per week. Week two: Keep snack boxes topped up. Bring lunch at least 3 days. Home-cooked meals 5 nights per week.Week three: Keep snack boxes topped up. Bring lunch at least 4 days. Home-cooked meals 5 nights per week.Week four: Keep snack boxes topped up. Bring lunch at least 5 days. Home-cooked meals 5 nights per week.3. Move I'm really not sure what to do with this one so I'll keep it simple. 3 hours of physical exercise a week. 2 hours of this needs to be vigorous exercise (running, walking up a steep hill at a decent page, rollerskating fitness, etc). 1 hour can be walking at a relaxed pace. Side quest: the big adventure/s I need to bed this down a bit more, but my partner and I are settling what we'll do for my 30th (it involves being... not where I am, and that's as far as we've gotten. Cripes!), and when we'll do our big hike. My side quest will involve: Settling on dates.Making hotel and flight bookings for my 30th weekend.Revising my leave so I can do the hike later (my work is flexible about these things).Costing and budgeting.Anyway, I think that's it for now Huntress out.

I used my 20 seconds of courage a few months back to sign myself up to the local roller derby league (a league so new that there isn't even a whole team of players yet) which surprised absolutely everyone I knew because I am the uncoordinated, unfit, flailing, klutz of my social circle. I also had absolutely no roller skating experience (excepting a few times on rollerblades back when I was a very small girl) so I went in with no skills whatsoever but all the determination to learn. Turns out I love the feeling of flying around with wheels on my feet and I rose to the challenge of not being able to do things the first time around (something my perfectionist nature hates with a passion. xD) Today (on the 18th of october, 2015) I successfully passed the testing requirements to pass the "Fresh Meat" stage of roller derby - meaning I'm allowed to hit people now! xD It's only a small part of the journey to becoming a full roller derby player, but I never thought I could do anything that required coordination or fitness or even strapping wheels to my feet for pete's sake! xD My next step is to now pass Level 2, which is contact skating and strategy and stuff, so that will be a whole new learning curve, but I'm so excited for all the new things I get to learn. And I get to keep skating!

Holy sh*tballs guys, I get married on 10th October. Me right now: Between starting my job proper (hey I'm a pharmacist woo-hoo) and working over my contracted hours (oh hello 60 hour/5 day week, you're a delight) and finalising plans for my wedding, my fitness & health have taken a nose-dive. I cannot post regularly, honestly this is more for me than for anything else, but I am going to try to get my crap together before i get married and jet off to Rome for a week (bring on the Honeymoon!!) So my quest is simple: Maintain health prior to wedding 1. Eat well Make my lunch every day and make sure it's something low-FODMAP and good for me.No more take aways before the wedding!Cut down on the wine & cider2. Exercise on occasion Working odd hours is not conducive to exercise, I miss skating practice quite a bit due to work, so I need to make more of an effort in this respect.Try swimming - it might be expensive, I might not like it, but I want to have a goStart running - some days I work 2pm - 11pm, these are ideal times to run on a morningContinue lifting weights - I'm aiming for once a week, twice a week if I can manage itSkate once a week - this is a hard one as I never know when I'm working week to week, but we'll have a go!3. Keep calm I'm working on breathing techniques to lower my stress levels - I gave myself an ulcer in the last two weeks from stress - not good!Do yoga on occasionKeep on top of wedding prep - ensure diary is up to dateTalk to Rob & my mam about my worries - a problem shared and all that I'm hoping after my honeymoon I can really dig back in with my fitness leading up to Christmas, but it all depends on work *sigh*. In the meantime, let's get ready to get married!

Last challenge was pretty successful! I went from 71kg to 67.3kg in 6 weeks, through a strict diet change. I've got used to the change - no wheat, no dairy, no high fructose fruit - and am hoping to keep my weight loss up, with a slight change. Main goal: Reduce body fat to below 30% Strength train once a week + HIIT once a week = [sTR + STA] - simple really. Increase muscle, lose fat. I've got my garage gym, and as seen last challenge, I can't manage to go in twice a week. I'm hoping that by incorporating some sprints and other HIIT exercises I can switch things up a bit.Maintain meal prep [CON + WIS] - focusing more on high protein meals and low carb. Side goal: Be able to shoot the duck! That's Estrojen...my idol. Yoga twice a week, focusing on hip flexibility [CHA + STR] - I've found some videos on youtube, so I'll be following along with those, on a morning before work - hopefully!

Around eight weeks ago I started roller derby with the Middlesbrough Milk Rollers as part of their newbie sessions. I'm currently working through to pass my 'Minimum Skills' which is the minimum level I'm expected to achieve before I'm able to join the team and join in with the bouts. I'm not sure I've ever started something I love quite as much as this. It's painful and hard and tiring and I'm ruining my already crapped out knees, but it's amazing! Therefore, my goal this challenge is: Be the best gorram derby player I can be! I have four ways I'm going to do this. Fitness Goals: Due to vacations in the next 6 weeks I have a possible 9 practice sessions to get to (instead of 12). I intend to get to all of them. (STR + STA)Do 2 off skate workouts a week - focusing on strengthening my left leg in order to perfect right knee falls (STR)Do 3 physio sessions a week - my left knee is a little ruined, so I need to do everything I can to stop hurting myself any further (CON)Life goal: Study derby rules and attempt to pass minimum skills written test (WIS)Ideally in the next 6 weeks I would like to achieve the following of my minimum skills: Perfect my right knee fallsAchieve 27 laps in 5 minutes (I'm sitting at 22 & 3/4 without crossovers...)Be able to do crossoversGet faster at skating backwardsPerfect my plow stops & T-stopsThere are other things I'd like to get better at (giving hits, stepping and jumping) but those are what I'd really like to get ticked off in the next 6 weeks.

The toe of my chucks made contact with a stone, sending it skittering away down the path in front of me. A chill wind pushed at me from behind; I hunched over a bit more, jamming my cold hands further into my pockets. Weather or no weather, I won’t be deterred from my walks. Taking alleyways, back roads, and the hidden footpaths of the moss junkies, I spent the last year winding my way around the deserted underbelly of my city. At the beginning, I avoided the lively upscale courtyards and the ghettos crawling with junkies with equal revulsion -- too many people, too much noise. I need solitude. My strategy took me to the edges where not even the social refuse cared to go. I explored the defunct docks, the boarded up mill, and the fire-eaten tenements of Broadpebble Road. Occasionally I encountered some other solitary soul, or maybe a small cluster of new rejects huddled around a barrel fire. Never two times, though. Days or weeks later, on my next pass through, I’d find the area empty once again. Either they moved on toward the more hospitable ghettos, or the bailiffs got them. Today I was exploring a new route through the deserted southeastern side of the city. Two decades ago this place was vibrant with merchants and artisans, the life-blood of my city. They kept us self-sufficient, creating all we could possibly need for food, fuel, household goods, and recreation from the materials gathered by workers outside the city walls. My city was a beacon to the surrounding territories, a shining jewel of independence on the banks of the Great River. The plague came slowly. A few merchants arrived at Mercy Hospital with ugly greenish-black boils, the like of which had never been seen before. The hospital found a treatment that seemed to work within hours, and sent the folks back to work. The next day, those people came back with more boils, oozing and raw this time, and more folks came in. The doctors and nurses kept trying to find a successful treatment, but each time something seemed to work, the affect was shortlived. Within a week, almost all of those who were initially infected had died. Despite the city’s ironclad policy about maintaining traditional burial ceremonies, those who died from the boils were immediately burned to ash and buried outside the city walls to prevent further spread. This didn’t seem to help, as more and more merchants and artisans in the Southeast District became infected, tried the treatments, and died. The city took drastic measures and put the district on quarantine; nobody in, and nobody out. Because the city could no longer rely on the district for supplies or food, the Mayor had to open up trade routes with three cities to the north of us. The rest of my city remained infection-free and survived, thanks to the generous trade agreements and low tariffs given to us by our sister cities. Within a month, the Southeast District was wiped out. The entire artisan and trade community was dead, and my city, once so self-sufficient, was now entirely dependent upon foreign trade for survival. Thinking about it now, an acidic chuckle rises up in my throat. We were so stupid. The city’s best scientists and doctors never figured out what caused the infection or why it ended so suddenly. Three centuries of medical advancement did us no good at all, because, as a cluster of independent researchers found out this year, the disease didn’t follow known biological infection patterns. It wasn’t actually an infection at all. It was magic. I know, I know. You don’t believe in magic, right? Neither did we. When the word got out, everybody said it couldn’t be. But the researchers had found the man who performed the magic. After a small demonstration of his abilities, he told us he had been paid, and that he had not been informed of the purpose of what he was asked to do. He told us that when he found out, he was so consumed with guilt that he surrendered himself and agreed to tell all in penance for his sins. The worst part is that this magic, which was used to poison the city-commissioned ink used only in the Southeast District to notarize transaction receipts, was brought upon us by none other than the three cities to the north. This discovery was made long after the plague had ended. By then we were so ensnared in rigid trade agreements that it was far too late to extricate ourselves. To this day, my city remains locked in forced trade with the three cities to our north, despite the now-open knowledge that it was those same three cities who conspired to murder hundreds of our own people. Rumor is that no one has been in the district since the plague finally ended two decades ago. I was only ten years old when the plague struck. I never saw anyone with the boils, but I heard such stories of them handed down at the Upper West marketplace that had been hastily set up to allow foreign merchants to sell us needed supplies and food. After the last merchant in the district had died, cleaners went in and scoured the area, removing all traces of the poisoned ink and papers. The man who made the magic created a neutralizer as his act of restitution. This substance was atomized throughout the entire district, where it was allowed to seep into the walls and floorboards of the buildings, into the panes of glass in the windows, and into the grime of the streets. Then the cleaners left, and the district remained boarded up for good. It stands as a constant reminder of what our sister cities, now our enemies, did to us in their greed. For the past two decades there have been near-constant rumblings of rising up against them to regain control of our economy, but so far no one has made an attempt. I’d been wanting to find an access point to the Southeast District for years. It was curiosity and some other, deeper pull that drew me to pace the edges of the city hoping to find a weakness in the wall. Last month, while traversing a narrow footpath nearly overgrown from lack of use, I found a gap. The ground had heaved up during the small earthquakes we sometimes get and the corrugated metal siding had pulled away from itself just wide enough that maybe I could get through. I didn’t try that day. I waited. For the past month I explored every possible route to get me to that same spot, at different times of the day, waiting and watching to see if anyone else ever showed up. Once in the foggy dusk a week ago I thought I saw someone a ways down the path, walking away from the wall, but I couldn’t be sure. I came back again and again, but never encountered that shadowy figure or any other soul. I finally decided it was time to make my attempt. That’s what brings me here today, walking down what used to be an alley between the textiles guild and the pottery guild. It was overgrown with weeds and the trash of two decades that had managed to blow over the wall. I expected to feel different here, eerie or spooked. Instead it felt like walking on any of my other quiet, overgrown paths. I turned a corner and walked out onto an abandoned street. I was deep enough into the district that I knew I couldn’t be seen from the guard tower on the far side of the city; the legislators had lamented publicly that the tower’s visibility was limited toward the southeast side, a fact that they claimed was a vulnerability to attack. Despite the cold wind, I felt my neck and shoulders relax and realized I had barely been breathing with nerves this whole time. My chucks took me forward until I came to a large, squat building at the end of the street. The windows were boarded up and the front doors were bolted with a huge padlock. The faded metal siding showed red rivulets where rainwater had rusted down the sides. I left the road and walked around the side of the building, trying to see through the grimed-over windows. Toward the back I saw another bolted door, except this one was made of wood. I’m no scientist, but I guessed that the wood was likely to be weakened by the direct sunlight and two decades of no maintenance. I lifted my chuck and pushed my foot flat on the door, beneath the handle. It creaked and shivered beneath my gentle pressure. I took a deep breath and kicked as hard as I could, and fell headlong inside when the door easily gave way. I sat up, brushed wood slivers off my knees, and looked around. The door behind me was mostly intact, though there was a jagged hole where the bolt had been. I would have to find some way to close it again when I left. I turned again to face the room. It was a very, very large room. Judging from the stacks of barrels and crates along the wall (these were what had obstructed my view through the windows earlier), this was probably one of the storage warehouses. In the back there were several horizontal metal rods, probably used for draping yards of textiles before cutting and bolting them for sale. The rest of the room was completely empty; either the warehouse had been empty before the plague, or the cleaners had taken a little “commission†for their work when they came in to scour the place. The floor was level and made of some sort of smooth stone. I dropped my bag, and the yellow wheel of one of my skates popped up through the bag’s opening. Oh, yes. I would make good use of this place. -------- I’ve sat out the past 2 or 3 challenges, and I am excited to get back into the game. I am tracking my goals on HabitRPG.com. My reward is that everything I do towards my goal gives me permission to funnel a certain amount of $$ into my California Trip Savings Account. There’s really nothing else in life that I want more than to go to back to California to see my brother again, so this has huge power as a motivator. Ultimate Objective: Develop derby skating skills enough that I can try out for the local roller derby team. What does this require? An improvement in all areas of fitness but especially core strength, leg strength, flexibility (particularly knees, ankles, and hips), endurance, loss of some body fat, on-skates drill improvement. What are the barriers? Current overweight, physical inflexibility, low stamina, habitual non-nutritious eating patterns, sugar addiction, low emotional resources, fear, anxiety, habitual internet use, staying up too late. Weekly morning workouts in the Southeast District: >>Two runs with yoga/cooldown: Weds/Fri (+2 STA, +1 DEX) >>Two bodyweight sessions: Thurs/Sat (+3 STR) <--every other week, the Thurs bodyweight session will be replaced by a Derby Lite: Off-Skates session. In order to get to the District to work out before work in the morning, I have to: >>Go to bed no later than 9:00pm / Wake up no later than 5:00am every day. (+3 WIS) --This will require use of ChromeNanny on my laptop to make social media and video streaming unavailable after 8:30pm. To fuel myself well and avoid hitting the wall during weekly derby skills training, I have to: >>Eat a seriously legit* serving of veggies at every meal, including brekkie. (+3 CON) >>Change my habit of buying something at the bakery every grocery trip, by buying something from the produce section OR Greek yogurt instead. When I am able to leave the grocery store without having bought ANY treats at all (produce/yogurt or otherwise) I get to put an extra $10 into my California Trip Savings Account. (+3 CON) *Seriously legit: a hefty pile of any of the following - beets, pea pods, brussels sprouts, bell pepper, carrots, broccoli, dark leafy greens, sweet potato (only on occasion), tomatoes, squash, etc. Not legit: a handful of frozen peas, a couple sprigs of broccoli on my pizza, corn in any form, etc. If it’s puny and I’m trying to persuade myself that it counts, it’s NOT LEGIT. Ongoing: Derby Lite practices - a 90-minute endurance, strength, and drills session every Tuesday night with my teammates. ------------------ Week 1 Check In Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

The clank of hammer on anvil and grunt of chains being pulled and weights being lifted filled the air as the ranger entered the forge. One forgemaster, a broad muscular man who’s face looked mored like a wizard with long white hair and a long beard came up to him. “Can I help you Brother?†“I’m here to help out and to learn how to be a warrior,†the warrior-wizard looked the ranger up and down, seeing his was tall and lanky and almost all his strength in his legs. “Are you sure?†“Definitely, I’m probably a ranger at heart but as you can see I need to hit the iron some,†“Excellent!†the wizard beamed before throwing a large hammer into the rangers hands, knocking him back onto his backside. “Get up, there’s iron to be worked!†-- (Yes that’s Gainsdalf cameoing, I hope he likes it) Former (and possibly future) ranger who’s here to do a lifting focused challenge. During my last challenge I really fell back in love with lifting and got into the swing of doing Stronglifts 5x5 as an introduction to lifting and my main focus for this challenge is to continue that. (By the time the challenge starts it will be 4 weeks down, 8 to go) My other love is roller skating for exercise, fun and often for roller derby. I’m taking a break from derby at the moment but my aim is to probably become a referee and some day join a men’s team. I love derby as a sport and I really love skating. Its fun and as someone with coordination problems it’s a real thrill and confidence booster. As the weather improves I want to go skating and exercise outside as much as I can, but I want to be in a better shape for it. So here is my first spring challenge. Fitness Goals Work the Iron: Continue Stronglifts 5x5. I’m currently doing strong lifts with two modifications. I don’t trust myself doing barbell presses without a spotter so I do dumbbell presses (both could be argued but I prefer dumbbell presses) and I add in either assisted pull ups (A days) or assisted dips (B days) to help with my upper body strength. This also covers going to the gym 3 times a week. +3 STR +1WIS Hit new heights: Get my 5x5 Squats above 60kg by the end of the challenge: This relates to stronglifts and I want to use it to bring my Squats PB above 60kg (it’s a long story why that specifically). If this is too easy I will revise this goal +2STR +1END Face your demons: Do 10 press ups every day: This is a matter of pride which I worked towards in my previous challenge but not there yet. I think just an attempt at doing press-ups every day will bring me towards being able to do them (that way I can do them outside when summer comes) +2STR +2END Life Goals Calm yourself: Meditate or at least relax for 10 minutes daily: I have a very busy jumpy mind, often to the point of anxiety and panic attacks and I want to make it a point to work on relaxing and calming my mind. If I don’t meditate, at least +2 WIS, +1 CHA And a final unwritten goal: Use the good weather, the night was dark and full of terrors but now spring is coming. Use it, enjoy it. I'm starting now, but marking myself from monday. Call it a rolling start. I shall now hand it over to Raw Heidi of London Rollergirls showing how excited I am

Did I ever mention I love alliteration? You may have noticed. Still doing a fat lot of nothing in regards to Challenges this winter. Here's my latest attempt to get off my ass I think I've gained about 5 pounds since Christmas. When I discovered that, I threw out all my leftover goodies (go me!) and started getting my diet back on track. I've been super poor from Christmas and dating, so my food options are a little limited to whatever is left in my house. I'm TRYING to eat as healthy as possible, but when you don't have money for groceries, but you have lots of Gift Certificates to eat out, it can be rough. But enough excuses! That's what a challenge is for. That's the definition of a Challenge. No one said it would be easy. So let's get 'er done! Here's me right now: My Goals... 1. Lose 1 pound per week, for a total of 6 pounds over the course of the Challenge - this will be done as I have done it before. Paleo. Less sugar, less wheat, less processed junk, more good, real, clean food! 2. Go snowshoeing, Skating and Swimming at least once each during the Challenge. There was a NF Meetup planned for a snowshoeing adventure but it was cancelled to due NO SNOW! >.< But I WILL reschedule! It's been YEARS since I've been. 3. Do a workout AT LEAST once a week - I'm starting small, because I've done ONE workout ALL winter. Maybe fall and winter. It's pretty darn sad. So baby steps. My goal is once, but if I can manage two or three, that'll be FAN-freaking-TASTIC. 4. Hike at least once per week - my usual. I always do this one. I think I've only missed one week all fall/winter, and that was near Christmas.. and possibly "slushing" (it doesn't really snow here lol). It's been cold, and wet, but I have been getting out. It's wonderful. I even did a late hike and ended up at the summit at sunset. It was beautiful and I got to use my flashlight! Cooool! Personal Goal: LOVE LIFE Well, my love life has been tipsy turvy for the last..... 5 months, I guess. Broke up with my long-distance boyfriend in August, dated a bit, met someone and had an intense, flash-in-the-pan, heartbreaking relationship in Oct/Nov, and I've been dating ever since. "Dating" is all new to me. I've always been a serial monogamist. I'm trying to actually date, and make good choices, and not ignore red flags this time. I'm insanely optimistic and a hopeless romantic, which has definitely gotten my heart broken and led to a lot if disappointment. So I'm trying to find a balance between being hopeful for the future, and staying critical and being careful with my heart. This time around I'm being picky! I want my next relationship to be my last. Definitely have to find someone active and who eats well, so that I don't get sucked into bad habits again. I've got to find a potential Rebel and convert him! Wish me luck!

tl;dr: Made some gains in my lifts. Learned a lot of cool gymnastics tricks. Got better at dancing at dancing and freelining. Before school started this academic year, I got into strength training and fitness in general. However, coming into the semester, I knew that I would have little time or energy to go lifting more than once a week due to schoolwork and 13 hours of dance per week. I was right. However, I rediscovered my passion for dancing and found a new passion for tumbling and skating. I increased my squat from 100 to 120 and my deadlift from 125 to 155. Not super significant for an entire semester’s worth of work, but they are gains nevertheless. Woot! I took a ballet class and participated in two dance teams. I learned a lot about technique and improved mine in the ballet class. My new goal in dance (aside from getting better in general) is to learn how to dance en pointe. Between my two dance teams, I choreographed two group pieces, one solo, and participated in a total of seven pieces (on top of being a student???). My friends have noted significant improvement in my dancing from the past. Here’s a video of the solo that I performed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuRuXwJEACY. I obtained a pair of freelines. If you don’t know what they are, here’s a picture of my babies: https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1374876_10151873348018972_330126923_n.jpg. I originally intended to use them to travel to and from class, but I discovered so many more fun things I can do with them. For the last three days, I’ve gone freelining for anywhere from 1-3 hours daily. Over these skate sessions, I improved my ability to navigate in these and even start on some cool tricks (although being able to ride these is pretty cool in itself). My biggest accomplishments this semester were in gymnastics. I set the humble goal of learning how to do front and back walkovers, and I have achieved one of those goals. However, after taking a tumbling class for PE, I (re)learned a ton of skills. Among those are: Back walkover (original goal)Back handspring (from standing, from round-off, three consecutively)Front handspringAerial (cartwheel without hands; sometimes that I’ve never done before).I was not expecting to learn these many skills, but all it took was a little push from a coach who knew that I was capable of doing these skills. After all, I was able to do all but the aerial when I did competitive gymnastics ten years ago. Anyways, this was a pretty big self-congratulatory post celebrating my accomplishments over one semester. Thanks for reading!

Hiya Everyone! I can't begin to tell you how excited that I am to be here. I stumbled on some articles and got to reading and then discovered a forum! I couldn't stay away! Being able to get healthier with like minded people sounds amazing! I am recovering from a ankle fracture and 6 weeks ago was living an active life of a rookie roller derby skater. I have been skating for 13 months and I learned to do some pretty awesome physical feats with my body. The level of endurance I had achieved left me in awe. I would sweat for 2 hours, busting my a** like I have never done before, and I felt like a superhero when I was done (stinky and gross but hero none the less). I was ready to bump up my workouts off skates to get even better, and I fracture my fibula, at the end of an amazing practice, 2 weeks before our last bout of our rookie season. Talk about crushed. Ugh, the heart ache, but I know it is temporary, and I know how essential healing and patience is to a full recovery. Tuesday, this Tuesday, I go back to hear if I get my aircast off and I can return to *some* sort of working out. I need to get my stuff together asap b/c we have test outs in December and our new season starts in February. I don't believe I will be back to contact ready by December but need to have it together by February!!! Glad to be here! I am ready to get back to the grind! Whindy

Hello, I'm Betty Krypton, currently teaching abroad in South Korea and trying to get back on track with my life. The last year has been super hectic, and that has come with a 30+ lb gain and an avalanche of other issues. I've been trying to do too many things at once, and I finally had that moment where I realized I need to take small steps to a better me. My Three Goals the next six weeks: 1. Exercise 5 days a week M-F I will workout as soon as I wake up. That will get me going for the rest of the day and allow me to unwind when I come home after screaming--erm-teaching English to Korean kids all day. 2. Plan out food for the day, then stick to it. I will write up a meal plan each week, then shop according to it, that way there are no unnecessary foods that may derail me. I will also learn to say 'no' to well meaning coworkers and students who try to feed me (it happens more often than I'd like) 3. Get 8 hours of sleep a night. Lastly, I will have a bedtime routine that will begin 30 minutes before I intend to be asleep. That will signal my body to get off the internet, disconnect from everything, and sleep, dammit. I have a stressful job and am also doing my Master's degree, which leads to moments where I zone out, take comfort in food, and pretty much run on zombie mode instead of taking care of myself. I'm also involved in roller derby. In South Korea I'm not as actively involved, but I want to get back into fighting trim for when I return stateside. To be a good player, i need to have strength, flexibility, and endurance. I love doing violent things (My favorite fighting game series is Guilty Gear), quite honestly, so Roller Derby, Kickboxing, and other forms of athletic violence make me happy. I hope that I can get positive support as I shift gears and start being Betty Krypton, menace of the track and all star on 8 wheels. P.S. This is my first time-erm-challenge. I'm a little nervous.