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Hello everyone! My name is Sora, and I'll be joining the Rangers this time around if you'll have me (previously a scout). The last challenge was my first in a very long time; I rejoined after a long hiatus, and semi-successfully completed my challenge with the scouts. I'm hoping to join the Rangers as I begin to explore different types of workouts. I have historically been a distance runner (cross country and track team in middle and high school). In about a month, I'll be a Freshman at the University of Michigan, and I'm hoping to try out something new. For this challenge, I want to explore different types of workouts and begin to find something I might like to do in the future. For this challenge, I will be centering around a theme from the Anime "Magi: Adventure of Sinbad" which recently finished airing. I'm currently studying abroad in Japan until August 12, so I appreciate the idea of adventure. Goal 1: Workout! Workout 5 days a week, including some mix of running and non-running exercises. One of the main ideas behind what I am trying to accomplish is based in working out. Like Sinbad, I want to try to live like other people do and experience different ways of life. Through this, I hope to find the best fit for me. I will continue running as it's what I know I am capable of. Otherwise, I will try to find new workouts to incorporate. I don't have access to a gym or anything, so body weight workouts will probably be in store. If you have any ideas for what I should try out, please let me know! Goal 2: Try Paleo! Have 6 paleo meals a week (try new recipes or make good choices out). I am currently living on my own and cooking for myself, so I would like to try to learn some new recipes and eat in a new way. I like the philosophy behind paleo, and I've wanted to give it a go for a while. This will be a little difficult due to being in a small apartment in Japan (limited kitchen and living in a country that eats a lot of rice). However, I will give it my best shot! Let me know if there is a recipe I must try! Goal 3: Smile! Brush teeth every morning and night (bonus points for mid day). Smile more. Over the past year I've become less consistent with my oral hygiene due to a wacky schedule. It's time for this to stop. Sinbad is known for his charm, and a big part of that comes from his smile, so I want to have a smile that I am confident in! Life Goal: Study the world around you! Study Japanese 7 days a week (at least 5 days of two hours a day [consisting of grammar, vocabulary, and kanji], and another 2 days of review and practice). I am in Japan, after all, so it's about time I become better at studying Japanese. I've taken a few years of classes, but I have a lot of review that I need to do. In the last challenge I improved, but now it's really time to step it up. Part of Sinbad's travels is him learning about new places and other ways of life, so what better way to do this? Overall Goal: Look Good Naked I'm hoping to cosplay Sinbad at Youmacon (the first week of November). In order to do this character justice, I want to improve my overall figure and become more confident in my appearance. Rather than having a goal like "lose X amount of weight/bf/etc", I'm simply trying to make habits that will result in that on their own. I don't want to worry about the numbers, only the work. I will have this as my overall goal for the next few challenges leading up to November! Thanks for having me, Rangers! I look forward to working among you.

So, last challenge was ok but kind of fizzled out towards the end. But that's fine because I'm taking a two week break as I'm off here at the weekend: Download is the biggest rock and music festival in the UK (and occasionally the biggest music festival in the UK), and it's going to be awesome. This will be my 9th consecutive year, and I just cannot wait to get there. Whilst this is the most awesome, and strangely relaxing weekend of my year, it's definitely not the most healthy. Much much beer will be consumed, very little sleep due to a combination of that beer and the sound of 100,000 partying (and wanting to party with them), whatever food is closest to hand and many many miles of trudging through mud. All in all I'm going to need a few days to recover when I get back, so I'm starting this challenge on 20/06/16, running it for four weeks, and then I'll go straight into the next challenge without a rest to get back in line with everyone. So, on to my METAL goals: Down with the Sickness - 15XP What? As with my last challenge I'm cutting back on smoking, with the intention of quitting over the next couple of challenges. Why? Because I'm starting to notice it hampering my fitness. I exercise more or less every day, I'm pretty lean, but I still get out of breath a lot quicker than my non-smoker friends. Particularly I want to be able to improve my swimming times and not get so puffed out when hiking. How? Follow these rules: I do not smoke in my car I do not smoke at home I do not smoke at the gym Maximum 8 cigarettes per day, any day. This is designed to allow me the occasional cigarette break at work, and the occasional one when out drinking, but to break the habits of smoking when I'm bored or hungry. Until It Sleeps - 10XP What? Get better/longer nights sleep. Why? My body needs sleep to recover from workouts, my mind needs sleep to recover from life, and I found that this was getting easier and I was getting up to swim more last challenge out of this. How? In bed every night by 11pm or within 1 hour of getting home, whichever later. Iron Man - 10XP What? Keep going to the gym to become strong like iron man. Why? Because I want to be strong enough that I never have to turn down an activity I want to do, or be unable to help my friends. Also I'm discovering some new muscles I didn't know I had, and it looks awesome. How? Go to the gym minimum 2x per week, sticking to my current plan. Bonus: 12 gyms visits throughout the challenge - bonus 5XP (providing main goal is hit) The River - 15XP What? Swim in the mornings before work Why? Because I want to hit some new PRs. And it wakes me up in the morning. And it makes me feel fitter in general. And it makes my shoulders look awesome How? Swim at least 3 days per week (expected to be mornings before work, but can be any time). Rewards: New prescription goggles. Bonus: +3 XP for any week where I swim 5 times (cumulative) (providing main goal is hit). Kuss Mich - 10XP Can't find a video for this. It's a Rammstein track anyway. What? Keep brushing my teeth like an adult. Why? Because otherwise they'll all fall out. And at 27 years old it's ridiculous that this even needs to be a goal. How? Brush my teeth at least twice per day, at least once with sonic brush. Floss at least once each day. Wasted Years - 10XP What? Make some time for myself to do stuff I really enjoy. Why? I seem to spend a lot of my spare time watching re-runs of old TV shows on the sofa, rather than making the effort to spend that time on something new or more interesting. I'm actually too lazy to enjoy myself at home! I also burned out a bit last challenge, so want some along time where I feel like I'm really recharging. How? At least 1 hour per week doing something alone that I actually enjoy. Could be playing computer games, watching a new show, reading etc. I Can Only Count to 4 - 15XP What? Do at least 4 adult tasks every weekend. Why? Tidy house, tidy mind. I feel better in a nicer environment. Also, these things need to be done anyway, and procrastination does not help. How? Pick any 4 things to do. Sample list in spoiler (though if something else comes up I can do that). A little housekeeping: It's hard to crowbar in songs to fit these goals, so I'm open to suggestions if you can think of better ones Challenge runs 20/06/16 - 17/07/16 as mentioned above Units may be in Metric or Imperial depending on the the phase of the moon, my waistline and your shoe size Volume will never be in US Imperial, because I don't understand why your pints are smaller than ours Song recommendations and devil horns in replies are strongly encouraged

Hi all, first challenge with the Rangers. Excited to be here! Had a bit of a mixed bag last month (link in my signature if you're interested) so doing some more of the same, and a couple of new bits as well. My Quest To be fitter, stonger, healthier and to look better naked. Challenges Swim More, Swim Better (15XP) - Did exactly this in the last challenge and failed miserably. Also haven't been swimming since the last challenge. So I'm upping the XP and trying again. Swim at least 3 mornings per week before work, with at least one drill day (bonus 5XP for 5 times a week on at least two weeks). Get Hiking (10XP) Going for a hike across Dartmoor on the last weekend of the month so I want to get back in hiking practice. Two long walks over the course of the challenge (10 miles plus) Parle plus en français (15XP) - Didn't do badly on this last month, but I want to get it perfect this month. Switching to a weekly goal rather than a daily goal to give myself some leeway in case fate intercedes with my progress. 350XP on Duolingo each week. Take care of your teeth! (10XP) - It seems ridiculous as a 27 year old man that I can't do this reliably, but for some reason I avoid brushing my teeth all too often. Simply brush teeth twice per day every day for this challenge. Does not have to be morning and night; can be any time (but must be a meal or sleep between each time). Keep track (10XP) - I ran into a few problems with the last challenge in not remembering if I had completed things, so this challenge is to complete my battle log every day for the duration of the challenge. Exception allowed for end of month hike if I can't get on the internet. No compromises (10XP) - I have the above challenges, the ranger mini-challenge and a PVP to do this month. These must be done in addition to my normal Gym routine (at least 2x per week) and badminton routine (as often as it can be booked in with my partner), and not at expense of them. The hike at the end of the month will be day 1 of this: http://www.carfreewalks.org/walks/75/dartmoor_north_to_south, and then we're thinking of heading east to Haytor and getting picked up from there as we're staying in that area afterwards. Also, Haytor is awesome, and I want to climb it again: Still quite new to this, so comments, criticisms and advice always welcome.

(Cross training again from the Rangers! Think I'm going to officially declare myself dual-class and continue alternating between Rangers and Assassins each challenge. So much awesome in both, I can't pick a favorite!) Certain things, through time and effort, have officially become “normalâ€. I workout. I meditate. They're just part of my day, like drinking coffee, or going to work. These have been things I've wanted to make a part of my life for years, and with the help of the Rebellion I've finally done that. Soooo..... now what? 0_o What did Beowulf do once Grendel was gone, and there were no monsters to slay (you know, other than the one that killed him...)? How does Spider Man while away those quiet sunday afternoons when it’s too rainy for any serious crime to fight? I’ll bet the Tardis has chairs with epic butt-dents from all the times the Doctor materialized somewhere mundane. It’s lucky that I read this article by Ross recently, because it makes me feel a lot better about wanting to take some time to just hang back and ride the wave for a bit. Maybe I’ll land somewhere exciting, or a new monster will appear along the way. Maintain the Muscles: STR +3, STA +2 1x Power Workout + 2x Strength Workouts per week I’ve scrubbed my old GPP stuff, and snuck in a Power workout where there used to be a Strength one. This somewhat lighter load should yield a net reduction in work, allowing for more recovery, more effort, and more gains. I'm sticking with RPT for my strength days, but I'm changing my protocol so that I won't raise the weight until I can do ten reps (up from eight). I’m not sure if this will really make a difference in the end, but life is all about experimentation, right? Power days are... different, due to the emphasis on making each rep as explosive as possible. Haven’t decided on rep ranges yet, because I really haven’t done much serious work with this kind of exercise before. Ross says 8-12, others say 3-6. 7 is right out! 1 point per workout: 18 possible. Maintain the Groove: DEX +3, CHA +2 20 min Break Dancing 2x per week + 6 min Stretching 2x per week These ARE NOT workouts. These are movement training/play time sessions. Sweating is likely, but not the goal. Skills are the goal, along with active recovery. 1 point per stretch, 1 point per dance: 24 possible. Maintain the Bite: CON +2, CHA +2 10 min Oil pulling 1x per day, every day. Read about this ages ago and liked the sound of it, especially now that my sonicare is dead (again) and I'm loathe to drop that much dough on another toothbrush that isn't likely to last more than a year. Oral health is essential to whole-body health, and I have it on good authority that it may one day save my life. Plus, some people report a whitening effect, and I could go for that. I'm using olive oil, not coconut as in the article above, but I understand it's probably just as good. 1 point per pulling: 42 possible. Grading All missions are graded on the classic scale. 90%+ = A, 80%-89% = B, so on and so forth. A = Full Points, B = 3/4, C = 1/2, D or F = 0 That means I can miss 4 oil pullings, 2 stretches/dances, 1 workout and still ace the whole challenge. I'm hoping that the generally relaxed nature of the missions will make the demanding tolerances for an A easier to cope with. Let's get versatile!