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Had a good Christmas holiday, but both hubby and I were fighting colds. And then we went to see his college football team play in the Semi finals. Which was super fun, but amazingly, time change, cold weather, and little sleep did not help our colds. So, I'm coming in to this challenge a bit under the weather. I'd planned to really get back into routine, and hit the ground running. But maybe I'll just hit the ground.😀 I may add to my challenge later, but for now, let's keep it simple 1) Get dressed in my workout clothes right away Put workout clothes out on bed ( if I'm not feeling good enough for a full workout, I can still do stretches and a light workout, or walk) 2) Read Bible before screens

I enjoy this time of year. I love all the lights, and singing Christmas carols, and parties, and gifts. But it is busier, so I'm keeping it simple. Goal 1: Get dressed first thing in the morning before I head out to the kitchen Goal 2: Read my Bible at least a bit before I look at other screens Also: I'm not super happy with my fluff right now, as I have too much. But, right now is not the time to cut. I'm just going to focus on my eating skills and being mindful. The thing I'm going to super focus on this holiday season: 1) After I finish eating a treat just sit a few moments and think about how I feel ( usually that I want MORE) 2) Finding a fun distraction for a few moments, most likely a word game on my phone 3) Going and doing the next thing and waiting at least 15 minutes before getting seconds I'm working on this skill, but I don't know how much I will write about it here. Keeping the list of things I'm require myself to post helps me not put off posting. I'll probably say something about it sporadically though. My Christmas happy: My husband put up Christmas lights downstairs. And we have a tree downstairs, so it is a lovely spot to workout in.

September’s the real New Year, if you ask me. Probably I feel this way because I’ve been in schools or universities pretty much my whole life. I’ll miss the long unstructured sunshiney days of summer, but I always dig getting into some sort of fall routine. Plus, fall foods! Blazers! Kilts and boots! Where do I want to be at the end of this challenge? Well, in terms of outcomes, a little leaner (losing 3-5 pounds would rock), a little more grounded, a little happier. Mens sana in corpore sano, as they say. In terms of actionable things I can do something about, Sound mind: 1. Delete twitter from phone and tablet. Restrict checking in to an hour over lunch. 2. Max of one alcoholic drink per week. Zero is better! 3. Start in on a morning and evening routine: workout, shower and leave the house by 9 am on weekdays. Screens off by 10 pm on weeknights. Sound body: 1. Track food (this is the bare minimum). Even better, stay within ‘good’ zone in the app. 2. 700 active calorie daily goal 3. Strength workouts 3 days/week. Fall treats: Do nice things for myself each day. This could be as simple as coffee outside on the patio on sunny days, walk around the block after dinner, Jackbox gaming with the fam, stop by the departmental cafe (still virtual right now, sadly), bubble bath, new piano music, lunchtime walk with work friend, new jammies.

Mentally, spiritually - whatever you want to call it - I'm all about balance. I've lived with mild depression for as long as I can remember, and through accepting the dark; welcoming discomfort into my emotions, I can see the light even brighter. You can't have one without the other. I'd now like to take the cerebral into the physical. Since the beginning of this year I've been on a quest to reduce my body fat, and been generally pretty successful on the beginner's phase of Strong Curves. That's now over, and although I've lost only 3kg / 6.5lbs, I've also got my waist down from 31.5" to 28.5" (I'm 5' 4", all the body fat is on my belly), my shoulders are now slightly wider than my hips (never thought that would happen), and my estimated body fat percentage is down from 33% to 26% Here's some NSFW photos of my butt I didn't know that I had so much cellulite in January and was really shocked when I saw that photo, but look how it's almost disappeared now! Just through lifting and a slight calorie deficit. That being said, I could keep eating at a deficit, but after 4 months of weighing and logging everything, it's grinding my gears and affecting my strength gains. If there's no difference after this challenge, I'll have to reassess, but I don't think a bulk is a good idea right now. Here's my goals! Ben Swolo Reduce body fat percentage from mid-twenties to low(er)-twenties. Start to round off that butt by building muscle in the intermediate stage of Strong Curves. Use tape measure and calipers to monitor this. Green Milk Is Good For You Eat at maintenance. I'll attempt to stay at my day one weight for the length of this challenge. To begin with I'll have to find what my maintenance calories are and adjust my protein macros accordingly, so I'll use MFP and the scale for that. Once I get used to what that number is, I'd like to eat intuitively and just weigh daily. Grey Jedi Fitness Weight training 3x per week with Strong Curves: Gluteal Goddess Running/HIIT 3x per week with Nike Run Club and Nike Training apps Yoga as much as possible, dependant on schedule. Yoga routine should complement that day's training. Thinking of doing something about my upper-body posture. At the moment it's looking like Iyengar. Or at least something with lots of shoulder stretches. There's all sorts on ongoing heath and career issues which I'll have no real control over this month. I've found such peace of mind by nourishing and challenging my body this year I'm happy just to focus on that for this challenge!

LIfe happens. It's how you deal with it that counts... On the downside, I've recently being diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and GERD. By the end of this challenge I will hopefully will have had the final tests to determine what kind of surgery - if any - will be right for me. For those of you who don't already know, I've been on the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole for about 7 months now. Long term effects of it are pretty nasty - the one bothering me in particular is that it inhibits calcium/magnesium absorption. This became apparent over the last challenge when my legs started to twitch all night, and I found myself pausing Strong Curves for a couple of weeks, only to find the twitching came back as soon as I resumed my workouts. As someone who was fine lifting way more on Strong Lifts I'm inclined to think it's the medication that's to blame, and not the intensity of my lifting. On the upside, since supplementing with calcium and magnesium this seems to have disappeared. If it comes back I'll start on the creatine. I can't bear the thought of putting all those hours in at the gym and having to do the same workouts with the same weights. I'm now on the home stretch (weeks 9-12) for this beginner's Strong Curves routine. I hope I'll be able to move into the advanced programme after, but if not I'm happy to repeat this last bit again. HERE WE GO! 1. Lose fat, get stronger Progress was depressingly slow last challenge, I lost a grand total of 1.1kg / 2.4lbs and 1" off the body. My calories seem to be somewhere between the low end of maintenance and the high end of deficit. I'll do my best to push comfortably into the deficit end of the spectrum by cutting calories to 1500 per day. I'm less hungry on 'active recovery' days, so I could cut more drastically on those days if I find I'm finding it hard to restrict on Strong Curves days. If I find my recovery suffers then I'll have to hang back from increasing weights, as losing fat is a higher priority right now. So, Strong Curves four times per week. 2. Climbmill HIIT routine It's 18 mins long, I'm doing it twice per week, and I've already modified the speed as it's a killer on the quads. I'll change up if it ever gets 'easy'. Due for another hiking holiday in October, which is why I chose that particular cardio machine. 3. Recover I don't know if this will be simple foam rolling or all-out yoga, but I think this would aid recovery. I still haven't worked out which days to do this - perhaps after workouts B and C, as they hammer the thighs way more. Obviously keep up with food supplements too. 4. Simple timetabling Tech on Mon-Wed; Creative on Thu-Sat. Brain doesn't like switching fast between the two disciplines and I find myself doing nothing instead. I've left this deliberately vague so I don't pressure myself too much, and then quit the first time after I fail.

The central tenet of Virginia Woolf's seminal essay A Room of One's Own is: "a woman must have money and a room of one's own if she is to write fiction" (yes, run away now). That was as true in 1929 as it is today. Goals a-comin': 1) Write a play! One of my goals in the last Challenge was to "stay in school" and I utterly failed in this, due to having to work long hours on a contract job, and spending time putting down good habits for my first month of Strong Curves. This month's goals are much the same, but the emphasis will be on my brain and self expression. I got paid rather well for the contract job and for the first time in my life, have no imminent debts. I've been wanting to write my own one-woman show for a while and I'm happy with the research I've done so far. I'm an actor and I'm finally creating my own work. It's 70% based on a real person, and 30% on me, but with some artistic licence it just about qualifies as fiction, VIRGINIA. I'll know if I'll be selected for some free research & development space by the end of February by a lovely theatre company, and were I to be chosen I'd need to be able to walk in the room with something by mid-March. I'm aware this probably won't happen but every other theatre seems to want a full draft, so there's no harm in starting. Some writer-friends have offered to read it too, and what with having nothing planned work-wise for February I thought I just need to get on with it. Everyone I've spoken to - friends, people I admire, people who can help me - think I've got a good idea. It's quite a lot of pressure to put on myself (my first time writing), so for funsies I'm going to break it up with MIT's Introduction to Computer Science and Programming With Python, and write a blog and a talk on running a successful Diversity & Inclusion programme in tech. I have a few days to timetable this before the challenge begins, and I will make sure I do so, lest the health and fitness stuff dominate again. I will nail down exactly how I'll quantify this, whether it's words written or time spent by the start of the challenge. Definitely time spent in front of the laptop/with a notebook: four sessions per week. As I build a writing habit I'll be able to work out exactly how long a 'session' is. Will post a provisional writing timetable for the coming week every Sunday. 2) Stay on track with health and fitness I'm really enjoying Strong Curves - not so used to dialling back the incremental weight progression because I'm on a cut, though. As I said at the end of the last challenge, I can spend up to two hours (because I do food shopping on the return journey) at the gym, so timetabling is a must: I have a bad habit of blowing off the rest of day if I've had a long workout. In addition to logging calories and doing Strong Curves I'd like to: a) Incorporate some exercises for my horrible arches as a preventative measure. Left one's pretty collapsed and I'm only in stability running shoes because of it - otherwise my gait's pretty neutral. I think doing it first thing in the morning would be best for building the habit. b ) Do at least two treadmill runs per week - three being ideal. If up to it on Tue, Wed and/or Fri, do a treadmill run, but recovery from weightlifting takes priority. c) My partner has booked a us a week-long holiday in the gorgeous Lake District (look it up, if you've never heard of it) in week three of the challenge. I hope my glutes hold out for all those ascents - though my cardio is pretty disgraceful. He's a long distance runner, has legs like a mountain goat, and I wish I had a chance of keeping up with him. One of our best friends is joining us, so continuing on the literary theme, we'll be the Shelley's to his Byron in the Villa Diodati... Best friend is able to keep up with him, even as he deteriorates over the week. I'm quite happy to stay at home and write for some of the time, while overlooking one of the best views in the world. i) I'll be doing the bodyweight version of Strong Curves ii) You'll forgive me if I forgo the aforementioned treadmill run over this period - I'll be walking A LOT. Could post my steps - that will keep me honest. Edit: This is a week of pure LISS! I'll be grand! iii) I'll do my best to log as accurately as I can, but seeing as our friend's a bit of a foodie, he'll want to cook most of the meals himself, with the occasional trip to a local gastropub. I'll try and make sensible choices, but I shall be eating more than usual and no one can stop me. iv) I'll post pictures! I've truncated three goals of the last challenge into one, and I'm writing a bloody play, so no more goals for this challenge. I'll be back with a timetable and some beginning stats in due course. Timetable is in a later post, with stats posted on first day of Challenge. Wish me luck - I'm terrified!

Hi everybody! This is my first challenge! 1) Stay on track with Strong Curves a) My periods are very painful and can put me out of action for a couple of days. At their worst I take Co-Codamol, but I imagine I probably shouldn't do anything while on opiates. If anyone can share tips on dealing with painful periods and the guilt/anger of missing a workout, please do! I highlight this because there's very little wiggle room on the SC course - four days' lifting plus two days of cardio. Having said that, I suppose I could catch up with missed cardio after a lifting sesh. b ) The gym is a ten minute walk away from my home and is open 24/7, so there really should be no excuse to miss a day in normal circumstances. c) I need to forgive myself and move on if I do miss a session. d) Sleep's pretty important, apparently. I need to observe bedtime better. 2) Active rest days a) According to Bret Contreras, 'rest' = doing cardio like a nutter. I tend to gravitate towards the spin bike, but I'm trying to give the glutes a chance at recovering so I'm opting to follow the Lean Fit Nike Training Club app. b ) Will have to look ahead and substitute any 'strength' workouts with the free HIIT classes my gym provides. 3) Log maintenance calories on MFP This should be the easiest goal to achieve. I had a crazy-long streak in the past when I was losing weight with diet alone. 4) Stay in school (I'm not actually at school, just teaching myself at home) a) Timetable study hours. With a new job and all those pretty sparkly weights to be distracted by, it's all too easy to neglect this very important and long-term goal (getting a programming job). Long story short, I'm switching careers to a more sedentary one and in that time have also been super-poor, so no gym for me for the last year. In that time I stopped counting calories and put on a load of weight; I seem to carry an entire body's worth of fat on my belly (it's not fair). People don't believe I'm bordering on being overweight, as the clothes I choose to wear hide the belly well, but the stats don't lie. Someone let me know if I'm allowed to post pics of underwear here, and I'll show you damning photographic evidence. I also have a dry sense of humour, so please read what I write with that in mind... I've recently joined the new budget no-frills 24/7 gym that's within walking distance of my house. I've also just got a short term contract job in my new chosen field, so 2018's been rosy so far. I was in two minds about joining NF, as I tend to go all-out on things - and I'm a little worried I'm going to spend all my spare time here and on My Fitness Pal (I use the same handle there if you want to be friends). Part of my New Year's resolution is finding that balance between brain and body and it looks as if I'll have to keep myself to a timetable to make sure everything's in check. I started Strong Curves on 1st January and started logging maintenance calories on MFP on 2nd. I'll do my best to post here and support you in turn! Stats: Age: 36 Height: 5'4" Weight: 63.1kg Neck: 13" Waist: 30.5" Hips: 38" Thigh: 22.75" Calf: 14" BMI: 24.6 Est. Body Fat: 32.7% Est. Body Fat Mass: 20.6kg

GREETINGS, FELLOW REBELS. Is everyone else as excited to get this challenge going as I am?! LET'S PAR-TAAAY. Background I'm Zho. 26, female, 4'11", 136 pounds as of this morning -- my lowest weight in 10+ years. Torn between classes -- perhaps assassin, or ranger? My fitness goals can be summed up as something between "functional strength and movement for everyday life or emergencies" and "do cool stuff." (Oh, I forgot "look freakin' amazing." That's in there too.) I want to be able to lift heavy things for my day job, flee from an attacker if I have to, do a pull-up, hold handstands, etc. I really like parkour and Ninja Warrior stuff, but I won't be getting into that until later this year, probably. I also challenged my sister to a virtual 5k in April, but I have no idea why because I have zero openings to actually train right now. I'd probably never progress beyond a 5k; I'd rather get faster than go farther (further?). So, yeah. I'm all over the place. Anyway... let's move along, shall we? I was going to save the Zelda theme for another challenge, but I just can't help myself. It's my thing. Zho Tests Her Courage 1. FIND A SWORD & SHIELD. Strength training, at least three times a week. This challenge will cover weeks 2-5 of the beginner strong curves program. A = 3x/week | B = 2x/week | C = 1x/week 2. BE BRAVE. TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND. Practice handstands at least three times a week. 20 minutes of training each; this includes rest time. A = 12 sessions | B = 9 sessions | C = 6 sessions 3. LISTEN TO YOUR FAIRY. Maintain and follow my weekly meal plans. This one comes with a LOT of variables and mistakes (I've only just started weekly meal planning), so success hinges on if we pick up fast food for dinner (unplanned), or if I clearly overeat that day. A = 4 (or less) bad days | B = 7 bad days | C = 8+ bad days 4. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. Fun life goal! Post a daily drawing in this thread. It doesn't have to be on time or drawn that same day, it just needs to be one fairly clean or finished drawing for every day of the challenge. A = 22+ days | B = 18+ days | C = 13+ days Rewards My 4-week reward is one shirt based off the theme of my next challenge. Here's what I'm currently considering: One, two, three, four. I might do a two-week reward of $10 towards more equipment, like ankle weights and socks. ;)

Seriously. I tried to be cute. But I just couldn't do one. Hi. I'm Shynnee. I am a 34 year old stay at home mom determined to set a good example for my daughter and live a fit, healthy life. This will be my second challenge. I didn't complete the first one through a series of excuses and hard situations. But I just successfully completed a 30 day respawn and I am back on track. Currently I am 4 weeks in to the beginner Strong Curves program. I go to the gym 4 days a week as I work my way through the program. I am already seeing awesome success in my abilities as well as small changes in my body. Unfortunately I am sabotaging all of my hard work by eating like I'll never see food again and as a result I have not lost any weight besides the 5lbs I keep yo-yoing around. So, my main quest is focusing on a healthy diet and I will include side quests regarding my fitness. Main Quest: Meal prep lunch and snacks for my family every week. Plan dinners in advance on Sunday for the whole week Log all food into MyFitnessPal Side Quests: Attend the gym 4 days per week. During this challenge I will be in weeks 4-9 of the Strong Curves beginner program Log 10,000 steps per day using Fitbit tracker Run 1 mile in under 13 minutes. Current best 9/13/2015 -13:56, 9/17/2015 -13:21 I don't have a scoring system but my accountability for food will be via photos and screenshots. I'm a visual person, so if you have help and suggestions, especially with food, please try to include a photo! Editing post to include starting stats: Height 5'4'' Weight 211 - 10/10 - 207 Bench: 40lbs - 10/10 60lbs Squat: bodyweight 9/21 - 25lbs 10/10 - 35lbs Romanian Deadlift: 50lbs Measurements (in inches) as of 9/22/2015: Thigh-29 Hip-48 Waist-43 Chest-46 Arm-14 Mini #1

TiffanyD’s New Trait – Tactical Advantage In order to have a tactical advantage at all times you must be skilled, have clarity, and always prepared. My skill-set is growing! I can now deadlift my body weight, which was my big goal for this year (I guess I jumped the shark early on that one). Now that my strength has improved greatly through Strong Lifts I am switching to Strong Curves to A. Keep things fresh and B. Focus on training for the body traits I want. Skilled: Train at least 3 times a week (strong curves, weights, or a class), and hit at least 10k steps a day (or 1 good extra workout/heavy duty home project) every weekend. Worth 3 str & 2 dex points. I usually hit close to 10k on weekdays, but my weekends become a blur of cooking, some minor cleaning and video games so I need to focus on getting moving on the weekends more. My prep work for the week has gone by the wayside and I need to refocus on making it a priority again. I also want to eat in a way that my body is always working properly and ready for anything. Prepared: Eat no more than 1360 calories a day average, and track all meals via MFP. Make sure to get within 10g of 98g of protein a day. I get 3 "cheat" days that won't count towards average total, with 1 being for my 30th birthday. Worth 3 sta & 2 con points. Water is a vital thing for clarity of body and mind, I am going to continue create the habit of drinking enough each day. Clarity: Drink at least 80 oz of water per day. Worth 3 wis & 2 cha points. Life Goal: Clean up finances and stick to weekly spending budgets, and spend 15 min everyday cleaning up the house (with Ben).

Everyone loves a good booty, do they not? A booty is important. It helps keep your pants from falling down. It provides a comfortable place to sit. It provides POWER to lower body athletic movements. And (let's be honest) it feels pretty good to have a nice rear view. Mine is trying to leave me. I dropped a bit of fat for vacation last month and found I was unhappy with the resulting shape. Thus, the Booty Preservation Society was born. I've done Bret Contreras' "Strong Curves" program in the past with good success; thus I will return to that which previously brought me good results. Save the Booty! Strong Curves. I've modified this into something I like, swapping out movements, lengthening the "phases" so I can actually see progress on exercises before having to move on to the next segment and only lifting 2x/week. I've been doing 5-6 x/week workouts for a pretty long time now and I'm looking for a bit more balance. Expect: lots of slightly pornographic exercises as I hip thrust and glute bridge my way to a better butt. Mondays and Saturdays You Gotta Fly to be Fly Aerial open gym once/week. At said open gym, I will work on scissor climb (ugh). Expect: lots of flailing. Frustration at the lack of friction. Wednesdays. It's a Stretch Goal... Still working toward the middle split. Continue to stretch toward that goal and strengthen the appropriate muscles. 3x/week, minimum. This happens somewhat by default due to the Strong Curves warm up, but I want to be sure to focus on it during open gym sessions as well and ensure that I'm working toward the splits, not just stretching in general. Expect: whining when I feel like I'm making no progress. Triumphant bragging if I manage to actually get the middle split this challenge. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays Mind your Mouth This one seems simple: eat when I'm hungry, don't eat when I'm not. Except not so simple. This is way outside my comfort zone of calorie counting and tracking. I'll be monitoring weight fluctuations and try to consciously eat less if weight skyrockets or clothes start fitting poorly. (Of course, I expect all my pants to get tighter as my butt work pays off) Expect: possible over-analysis of weight fluctuations and strong temptations to break open MFP "just to check." Note: I was sorely tempted to do an un-challenge this time around. As I mentioned at the end of last challenge, I have a severe case of The Fuckits, at the moment. Moving from 5-6 workouts/week to ~3 will do me a world of good, I think. If I want to throw in a day or two of extra cardio or yoga or whatever, I can, but it'll feel like less of a burden, I hope.