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For those who are new or behind, my main goal is weight loss, for health reasons as well as I want to look good naked, and fit in clothes I used to. I love 5Ks and kettlebells. I'm struggling with this goal because it doesn't get easier when you get older. (W) I work from home, (3 jobs) as an accountant, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. It's very easy to lose track of how much time I've been sitting trying to solve an issue. Not having "all the unhealthy things" in the house also helps. I use a 5K training plan that I’ve used in the past, 3 days of intervals and 1 - 2 of strength/cross training days, I may graduate to the 10K and half marathon plans this year, I may not. I just want to keep moving. ( R )I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle. (E) I found a ‘diet’ plan, the Dr. that came up with its target audience is post-menopausal women. It’s really a combination of several different things like IF, Low Carb/Keto, and Macros. The common denominator is calorie reduction, of course, unless you burn more than you take in, nothing is going to work! My biggest issue is I get tired of trying to figure it all out and do a lot better when someone just tells me how and when to do it, so I’m putting this on easy mode until I lose the weight! So far I’m down 11 lbs. (S) I want to hit at least 7500 steps a day, once this becomes habit I’ll raise it (T) Tracking the things that I eat with an app makes hitting macros and the calorie goal easier, this is in conjunction with E, even though I can eat and not track, doing both is better (L) I’ve been learning Spanish on Duolingo, because this country scares me and I may want to move abroad one day. I also want to learn to play guitar, since I have one collecting dust in my room and it will not learn to play itself. There are plenty of free videos on how to do this on YouTube. Learning something, at least once a week (Duolingo goal is daily) will count towards this. (E) Extra things that make life worth living, 5k’s or more that I may do, motorcycle rides, FL trips, and life events will go here. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I plan on posting daily to make sure I'm on track where I need to be The Plan... Workout - Intervals/Kettlebells Rest - Sleep (7 hours a night) Eat - Stick to macros and don’t make excuses to eat the unhealthy things Steps - Hitting my 7500 steps a day goal Track - using Cronometer Learn - Duolingo, other stuff Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life Update - Daily Done - 🌈 Not Done - ❄️ My mental health has taken a serious beating since 2019 and the events that happened there, it's not anything I care to rehash but D and I have been talking about our feelings surrounding that time of our lives. It's not been easy, I do feel it will be worth it though. Seriously considering therapy for the first time in my life, but not certain if that's a step I'm going to take or not yet. New Stuff: Yes I carry goals over from one challenge to the next, for those that stick around for multiple challenges (I love you, seriously, thank you!) New stuff will always be at the end of the first post About the title, granted, I haven't really watched wrestling since the 80's (who remembers the VonEriks?) but I do remember it's about pining your opponent...this is me trying to pin my goals down so I can start seeing more progress. Weight loss has stalled, I really want to get back on track with this. It's discouraging because I feel I'm doing most things right, but nothing happens and it makes me want to give up. Last challenge I started seeing a therapist, she calls me out and gives me homework and I believe it's helping.

COOL KITCHEN my neighbor found a nice kitchen a rich guy gave away for free. We drove there and he took the kitchen out and all the parts are in my house now waiting to be installed in my little kitchen space. I rented this old flat very cheap and I didnt have a functioning kitchen in it, everything was very ugly, old and broken. No visitor was ever allowed to set foot into my old kitchen. And to be honest: I didnt really keep it as clean as I would have wanted. This wonderful neighbor, K., looked at the the mess, and as he has a lot of building and renovating experience, saw the potential of the little space, which is facing south ( sunny) and could be nice. He offered to build me a brand new kitchen. I got my landlord to put in a new floor first. Then K will start his work. At the end of the challenge I might already have a sunny nice kitchen space. To tackle such a big project in my sacred home space is mentally hard for me. K. and I sat down and he asked me to let him do all the organization and just help him when he needs a second pair of hands. Also my job is to empty the old kitchen and store everything in my spare room. Im so grateful for my awesome neighbor and all exited about getting a kitchen I can sit in! KETO CONSISTENCY I have been keto again from the end of last December. During the last two challenges I have lost a good amount of weight. a bit less than 14kg to go. I will just keep doing what Ive been doing and also reducing the amounts of food as I lose weight. Im thinking 1-2 meals a day. lots of fasting in between. I want to keep creative with what I cook and make the most of my minimal budget. Costs are rising like crazy in Germany . Rather than buying crap foods I want to less meals that are healthy. Goal: fit into my professional pantsuit again at the end of the challenge. CAREFUL KETTLEBELL I chose these words because of the c/k fitting into incredibly funny wordplay. what I mean with it is: Hallelujah! Ive overcome my inflammation of the achilles tendons. I can carefully get back into sports/movement this challenge. There are all sorts of workouts possible now. I tried yoga and stretching but haven't found a home workout yet that I like to do consistently. I will set myself the goal to find a workout I like to do at home. Of course I keep hiking with friend and dogs, but it would be so cool to add some strength and or flexibility. I will have a tight schedule this challenge so Im thinking about a daily habit of maybe 10 minutes, even 5 minutes consistently done would be a success as Im starting from injury/zero. CAREER KICKOFF Disclaimer!!!!!!! I am an active member of a democratic political party. I write about it here because I have to organize my political career with my chronic illness. I sometimes post pictures showing the logo of the party knowing that some of you support opposing views. I would love to keep friends with you even if you dont agree with my political view ( which Im hardly ever talking about) its more about being a women in communal politics and how I prepare my 2023 campaign for city council. please, can we still be friends? ❤️ Im doing speeches, moderation and campaigning during this challenge. Together with my lovely therapist I train to perform on point during those events. a lot of prep and resting has to be planned in for me to perform well. Last challenge I managed great. Now there will be even more time scheduled for political work and I want to make it work. GOAL: perform well, dont burn yourself out though. This week I hold a speech in a mosque about anti racism on Wednesday and Thursday I apply with a speech for 2 positions in the party. ( we needed to vote more than once because some people left the party) Thursday I apply for spokesperson for social matters and a full seat ( again) at the social board of my town. ZERO WEEK I will stay keto and not borrow additional funds to do so I will experiment with kettlebell and other workouts to see what I would love to keep doing I aim to win internal electionsThursday and hold a good speech on Wednesday. SOOOOOO:

Some may say I need to be committed, I say if it includes my own padded room that doesn't sound so bad! I have reached challenge number 70...not all of these challenges went the way I planned, not all of these challenges resulted in me leveling up, All of those challenges have resulted in learning something, even if it's what doesn't work for me. I'm a pretty typical type A, I prefer to do things myself, have a difficult time asking for help and sharing my feelings...the older I get the more I realize this is not always healthy. I work from home, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle. I've been a workaholic as long as I can remember, mostly because of past experience and not wanting to have to count on anyone for things I need. D (my wife for those new here) and I have had many conversations about this. She understands my feelings because she's the same way, but we also know the importance to our relationship for us to be able to depend and count on each other. This is a very long winded way of saying that we need to remember to step away from work and have some fun, riding our motorcycles are a huge part of this for us for right now our every 4 week trips to FL also count towards this. The Plan... Cardio - 8,000 steps a day (includes 30 min on treadmill), and one kettlebell workout a week Update - Post in thread three times a week. Track - Sleep (7 hours a night) and Food (deficit per tracker) Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life events go here Done - 🌈 Not Done - ❄️ I have a Terrain Race planned in May that I do not want to embarrass myself at, I'd also like to get rid of the 35 lbs. that I put on since the last race I did in Feb 2020.

Two days before Christmas, I got word that my cousin died. He was 6 weeks older then me. I'll be 49 in November this year. Apparently he had a heart attack, and has had a multiples. In fact, has a pacemaker already too. We were all much more close back when I lived in Missouri, and saw that side of my family a lot more. My cousin was a big guy, and I'm sure that was part of what led to his early death. Years back, my uncle (his dad) had mentioned to me "Yeah, we can see you are a Thomas" while hitting his belly. I mean, at the time it was funny. But it just shows that I have a lot of bigger family out there haha. For New Years, I helped my sister-in-law move. Part of why I am late to the challenge Her fiancé is currently on dialysis. He also has quite a few issues from having uncontrolled diabetes. They are not that much older then I am. Eyes are messed up, kidneys etc. This all got me thinking about my own mortality again. My wife had her weight loss surgery done. She's still recovering some from that, but mostly recovered. I basically sat out the last challenge to take care of her. Before all this, I've been getting that feeling that I really need to change things for myself. All of this and all the other things we've all been through the last couple of years, I figure it is time for me to get serious. #1) Sleep Yes, big surprise my number 1 goal is to get my sleep in. It is just so important to everything else. Fully rested, I make much better choices. Getting rest allows recover from workouts etc. In general, thing are just much better rested, instead of feeling drained and sleepy. 10:30 PM Start reading. 11:30 PM head to bed. Wake up, and get out of bed. No sitting there playing on the phone. 15 points per day. 105 points per week. #2) Calorie tracking I want to get back to tracking my calories. I want to be under 2500 calories for now. I can adjust to see how I feel. Nothing special for a way of eating. I just want to start making smarter choices. Higher volume, lower calories I suppose. I did consider going back to Keto, because it did work well for me. I just don't know that that is going to be how I would want to eat forever. I still like having my popcorn Tracking calories in Cronometer, plus staying under 2500 calories 10 points per day, 70 points per week. #3) Walking and workouts One thing is clear, is I need to make sure to take care of my heart. So bring on the cardio. I might also be able to convince my older son to start walking too. He has mentioned to me lately. Maybe even get the rest of the family going. I also want to build up my strength. There are a few goals I wish to accomplish, and getting stronger will help For walking. I am going for 15 minutes to start off. I might do 5 minutes to start with my kid, then do more after. I figure that's a good start. Eventually, I will move it up to a certain number of steps. For workouts, I believe I will just start off with things at home. Everyone and their mom will probably start using out little gym at my apartment complex. So I want to start off with something else. Eventually moving into the bit of stuff at the gym. Walking 5 points every day for 15 minutes each day. M, W, F for workouts. 10 points each. 65 points each week. #4) Chores and Early spring cleaning There are many things to get done around here, plus the stuff that needs to get done each day or two. We close up our storage unit a couple of challenges a back. So we still just have so much stuff to go through. Chores each day are dishes and cat boxes. Then I need to get though a tub, or a few boxes of baseball cards/comics. There are many other things, but these are what I shall focus on. 5 points per day for chores, and 15 total points for decluttering each week. 50 points total per week. Challenge point totals: Week 1 - 0/210 Week 2 - 0/290 Week 3 - 0/290 Week 4 - 0/290 Week 5 - 0/290 Total points this Challenge - 0/1370 Measurements Start / Finish (coming soon) Chest - Waist - Bicep (L) - Bicep (R) - Thigh (L) - Thigh (R) - Weight -

Hello everyone. I am back again, and again with a very easy going challenge. About 3-4 weeks ago I came down with the 'rona and it really took it out of me. I'm still having issues breathing, so what I was doing fitness-wise before I got sick is a bit out of the question for now. I did lose about 10 pounds over the 2 weeks I was sick, and while it was not the way to do so, I'm looking at the positive in that it helped get me closer to my goal, and this challenge I am going to focus on not gaining that weight back, and hopefully losing a little more in a safer and more productive way. Goals: 1. Follow my meal plan at least 75% (3 of 4 meals a day) I am currently using the Eat This Much App to plan my meal plans for the week and grocery lists, its really nice, and has taken a lot of the stress off of me in trying to figure out what to eat and how much to stay healthy. It also has been pretty good at giving me meals I actually don't mind eating and can actually afford which has made it better than the other meal plans I have tried to use in the past. 2. Continue doing water weights/water walking at least 3x's a week, but also end it with breathing exercises. I have been going to the pool 3x's a week and running on the off days, but I can't run yet, as I can't get full breath yet, especially after a full night of work. I will continue to do the pool work, as I can scale that down enough that I'm not dying, and spend the last 5 minutes or so just taking deep breaths with my chest underwater to help work on my breathing more. 3. Use my CPAP every day for at least 4 hours a day. I am trying to use my cpap more and improve my sleeping, as well as the last time I spoke with my sleep specialist we discussed switching to a biPAP instead as my CPAP has been giving me problems with air swallowing, but since I don't currently use it enough, my insurance might not pay for me to switch until it is shown that I'm using it consistently and that the therapy is not working properly for me. Stats for the beginning of this challenge: Weight: 261.2 CPAP usage in the past 30 days: 11/30 CPAP days used 4+ hours: 5/30 CPAP average hours used: 4.3

One thing has become abundantly clear and that is the due to the events of the past year I definitely am suffering from some sort of burnout. 1) Try to recover from burnout - Probably go to therapy or something (how TF does one do therapy???? The last time I saw a therapist was in college when it was as simple as walking to the student health center & seeing someone for free) - read this book about burnout that I already own a kindle copy of - figure out some boundaries around work hours - probably do something for fun or that I enjoy just because This goal will be tracked by writing here what steps I've taken to do better here. I will also track pages read from the book (out of 275). 2) Lose weight / nutrition It is almost shorts season and my shorts don't fit as comfortably as they did last year. Weight has definitely gotten higher, haven't stepped on a scale in a while, but I can just tell. Will weigh myself in AM which will help further direct this goal, numerically. This will be the first time I am intentionally trying to lose weight in a few years and I am a little nervous about it. I kind of have the itch to get back into some sort of loose tracking, but worried about putting that on my plate or doing too much. I think maybe doing a rough tracking like precision nutrition method of XX thumbs of fat, XX palms of protein, etc. I do eat a lot more vegetarian/vegan meals than when I was strictly tracking, so I'll need to do a bit of research on this to figure out how to effectively incorporate vegan protein sources. A big thing for me will be reducing the snacking/junk foods as I have a major sweet tooth. I've had success in the past with carb cycling, but I think maybe just loose tracking for one challenge would be good before I try to attempt that again. OK. I weighed myself 5/5 and 5/6 in the morning coming in at 158.8 and then 158.6 lb. This is about where I thought I would be. For the record, when I first decided I needed to start losing weight ~7 years ago, the number on the scale was 161. This is the closest I have been to that number since, and honestly, I'm not as worried about it as I thought I should be. My body composition is vastly different from what it was then. My lifestyle is also vastly different. Back then I did barely any exercise maybe a few short walks/day. My idea of a healthy lunch was a lean cuisine. I drank way too much and ate out way too much. Alternately, somewhere after that I started that journey when I was at my lowest (~126 lb) I was obsessively counting and weighing my food, spending any free time I had in a gym, working out 4-5x/week, not having any semblance of a social life or hobbies outside of the gym. Now I'm somewhere in the middle. Up until the past ~6 months, I had been pretty comfortably weighing in the 150-153ish lb range for the past probably 3ish years. I think I'd like to aim to be somewhere in the 140-145 range. I'd like to target 145 lb by the end of July. The precision nutrition method says that puts me at ~1700 cals/day which seems reasonable. They also translate this to the following quantities daily: 5 palms of protein, 4-6 fists of veggies, 4 cupped handfuls of carbs, 4 thumbs of fats. Since this is my first time back into any sort of tracking in a long time, I kind of want to just see how it goes the first 2 weeks and see if this is sustainable before I hold myself to these targets. I will also weigh myself no more than 2x/week. 3) Move (Ended up adding as a goal because could be an easy win, so why not) Have been generally consistent with 3x/week workouts with the exception of the 1 week where I had my first COVID shot and was suffering from seasonal allergies and only got 1 workout in. I do have my second shot next week so anticipating some side effects. - 3x/week gym workouts, 1x/week doing something outside (hike, bike, golf, ultimate, etc) 4) Gardening/Landscaping project(s) I have many including wanting to build raised beds for veggie gardens (we have a lot of squirrels), landscaping edging and some other stonework surrounding trees. I'd like to get one of these projects done by the end of the challenge. As you can see I have some finessing of my goals before they are trackable, but I figure hopping back here and setting an intention is a start. Daily Tracking will look like 1) Burnout Journal ##/275 pages 2) ☐☐☐☐☐ 5 palms of protein ☐☐☐☐☐☐ 4-6 fists of veggies ☐☐☐☐ 4 cupped handfuls of carbs ☐☐☐☐ 4 thumbs of fat ☑ completed check for copy/paste ease in the future - ok it's going to bug me this doesn't match the same size as those above, but I pasted this from a previous challenge. Anyone have a good blank one I can steal that is the same size? lol 3) ##/3 gym workouts, #/1 outside 4) Landscaping project updates

I have free time at work... so I'm using it write the new post. Work = Rec and Park Internship where I get to try out the "manager role/admin duties". I'm a Rec and Park undergrad finishing up my degree with this internship. Will be working until Fall, but getting my degree in August (yay!) Internship is going great, like seriously "perfect Internship I couldn't even dream of level". Especially during crazy pandemic still continuing. Downside, I'm no longer in a physical job. Upside I am taking advantage of a normal job routine, and live in a place where its quite a bit less stressful. So taking advantage of the situation as I'm getting this groggy after work, continuing weight loss... I just passed the 20 lb milestone, for 2021! This challenge is definitely going to be a grind on creating habits (may finally have to read the habits book...) Keeping at if even if my job blew out my brain a bit... Routines: This is a hate/love relationship right here... Morning and Bedtime routines. Hoping to find a good "routine" to check off of every morning and night. No screens after 8: Find I tend to go to bed faster or finish things up when I put the phone away at 8. YNAB: Doing something on the app once per a day gives me a point. A budgeting software I tried on and off for years. I was on the fence for this goal, but honestly this is a goal to get handled where I hope to master. I have some money habits I would like to get in check, especially as of the many unknowns after graduating this August. No Screens with meals: This was on top of my list from my Naturopath... I can do this, it is not as hard as it was 5 years ago (where my mind was my enemy). I just need a reward... Going to add eating and driving, since I realized eating a pack of nuts and lara bar before driving home might do me better than driving home. Bonus: Working out: I have Ring Fit, I have trails I need to walk on my own time... just making the time to do it will help. Meal Prep: I'm actually giving myself a point for every meal I prep in advance. Allowing myself frozen dinners, but getting this in would hit my goals better. Myfitnesspal: I don't hate it as much as I used to, find it less stressful then YNAB actually. Right now using it for "checking in" tool. ' Since I'm earning full time pay, my hope is to turn my goals into points... that I can cash out when I hit a goal. First goal: Oats Overnight... started eyeing them for breakfast or a bed time snack. Will see if I like them.... Also I actually need to watch this show.....

Well, he we try again. Last challenge things just went off the rails, and I couldn't get myself to get restarted. Car even got stolen haha. Luckily, nothing was damaged. Still a mystery as to how they broke in and drove it. Things have just seemed off with me. 2018 things worked well for me. Everything I seem to get going, I just end up failing out. With all that, I am still going to come back and try doing a little better then last time The goals are always similar or the same. I really just have to get myself in the routine of getting it done again. I'm actually thinking of talking to my doctor too. Check the hormones levels and such. I've been recently thinking it might be less depression, and more lower testosterone or something with me. Either way, I need to check with the doc to get some tests done. Then I might actually find out. So here we go with the challenge. Goal 1 - Sleep I know 100% that this is so important to my mental health, as well as physical recovery. When I decide to just stay up, I end up eating more things. Then I get even more tired for the next day. Then it's just a constant feeling of never being caught up, and always tired. I know my recent challenges, the sleep wasn't perfect right away, but it was getting better. Being heavier weight doesn't help either. SO better sleep will come as I lose weight as well as getting my routine in order. For now, I'll get back to what I was at before. 10:30 PM off the electronics, and start reading. At 11:30 PM, I need to head off to bed. I also need to get up right away. no laying in bed to play pokemon go or look around on the phone. 15 Points per day. 105 each week. Goal 2 - Eat I've debated over the last few weeks as to what direction I want to go with food. Keto has worked amazingly for me. It is restrictive somewhat though. I've watch lots of Greg Doucette, and he talks about low calorie high volume ways of eating. Which more of which sounds good, but still would be somewhat restrictive too. Both ways, I still would have to deal with the things the rest of my family eats. The days when my wife decided doughnuts should be bought, or whatever sweet temptations. All the times we we go out to do stuff, and it's decided to pick up fast food. I end up with nothing, and have to then come home and make myself stuff. For now, I am going to stay with Keto. I want to try to get my mindset like I had in 2018. I was faced with many a snack/food back then, but really didn't have much problem ignoring things. Keto will take a few days to get use to, and cravings to start to go away. It will help to get to sleep on time too Tracking Calories (2200-2400 max), under 20 g net carbs. 15 points per day. 105 each week. Goal 3 - Walk There is much I want to do. All the exercise. All the running. I just can't jump in full force yet. It's very evident to me whenever I just go to take out the trash and such. I'm going to focus just one getting out for walks. I need to test what my limits are, but I want to focus at least 20 minutes a day. Normally, I would have a rest day, but honestly, I am just wanting to keep moving. Hopefully, by the end of the challenge, I will have leveled up the walking to multiple walks per day, or much longer walks etc. The walking is super important for me to do, so I am making it a high point value. 20 points per day. 140 each week. Goal 4 - Check in daily, do the Mini challenge(s), get help with accountability The Mini challenge looks right up my alley. I've been wanting to declutter my area forever. I just never made much progress The mini challenge has everyone doing it. So I must participate. I also am joining the Weight Loss PvP group I saw @Rookie sign up for it, and it sounded like a great way to engage with everything. Lastly, I must get myself to post here. Missing a day isn't the end of the world, but missing weeks is not helping me in anyway. Not only myself, I can't be abandoning all the people here. At least 5/7 days posting here and working on the mini challenge will get me 15 points each week. Measurements April 28th / May 1st: Chest - 56.96 in / Waist - 62.40 in / Bicep (L) - 17.79 in / Bicep (R) - 17.04 in / Thigh (L) - 29.84 in / Thigh (R) - 29.33 in / Weight - 378.2 lbs Total Challenge points: Week 1 (03/28 -04/03) - 270/365 - 73% Week 2 (04/04 - 04/10) - 0/365 Week 3 (04/11 - 04/17) - 0/365 Week 4 (04/18 - 04/24) - 0/365 Week 5 (04/25 - 05/01) - 0/365 Challenge total - 0/1825

I have thought about how to get out of my funk and found an easy cure: new beginnings are what I live for. so today I start a new challenge. the game is to get out of different wards in a hospital, win and move in with the girls or lose and dissolve slowly at "Shady Pines" orthopedic goals: walk a minimum of 30km each week. Do this just like last challenge, by hiking 2 to 3 times with dogs and friend and moving the dog daily. do an early evening session 3x/week of the NF bw circuit or kettlebell workout. I may be alternating those ... psychiatric goals ( addictions): back to the old game of limiting the cigarettes to 25 each day. bonus if I get down to 20 again! have 2 alcohol free nights per week, 5 days with little to moderate drinking 1-3 glasses of bubbly/wine eat veggies daily and stay in your caloric budget. neurological goals ( brain function ) do Duolingo French every day whenever you feel upset or hyper: meditate sleep 9 hours/ night ( this might seem a lot but Im taking medication that makes this necessary ) the cafeteria and garden goals: do something fun and creative 3x/week.. keep looking for a creative project tend to your garden see you guys tomorrow! ❤️

Hi! I’m Ingagr and once again at respawn point (ouch!) I got back to practicing taekwondo in july 2020, started caring for my meals (again, once again) by the start of january 2021 and now I believe am ready to get back to the Rebellion. My goals for this challenge are: 1) Weight loss: 7,5 kg. To achieve this I will focus on caring about my meals, performing 2-3 NF begginers bodyweight training per week, going to bed not so late and practicing taekwondo 2-3 per week. 2) Learn/Practice Taekwondo’s 5th form: Taeguk O Jang. I will attempt to practice it daily, adding moves. 3) Throw away stuff I don’t need, 1 per day, everyday: This goal explains by itself, everyday a useless to me thing must leave my house. Thanks to all for the support, I will be reporting here almost daily. See you! SUMMARY Week 0: Weight 129,1kg. 5th Form to learn and practice. Lot of stuff to get rid of. Week 1: Weight 127,8kg. 5th Form being learned and practiced. Lot of stuff left my house. Great week! Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5:

FIX'ER UP This is a follow on from last time where I went to the Moon through House Flipper the game. Well, I'm back on Earth, but instead of fixing houses in the game, I'll be starting to fix things around our own place. Seeing that it is now winter and all, the season for fixing. So I'll be fixin' myself up, as well as fixin' the house up. Same formula with a little tweak here and there: Bible study every day Weighing/Measurements (preferably on a Sunday/Monday morning) Cleaning (the house): floors, dusting, wiping, washing... Fixing: I actually have June-July-August for this Clean windows; Wash curtains (I did a lot of curtains about end of last year, only had front rooms left to do); Fix dining room table (Brandt) - I have to sand and re-varnish, etc. Varnish front door frame, and other wood surfaces as needed; Paint security gates properly (I painted the rusty spots a month or so back); Paint garage door; Replace window putty around glass, and repaint (two weeks later after putty dried); Sleep: In bed by 21h45. Exercise: At least twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday, or as possible) Jump Rope 30x Walking Lunges (10x15m) Pushups 10x Tire Rope Pull 10x15m~ Russian Twist w. tire 10x Sit-Twist Stretch Tire weight is 7.7kg

Who Am I?: Hi, I'm Rubble. I like cats, musical theater, coffee (way too much coffee), plants, and dumb movies. I'm a teacher who won't return to school until the end of August, and I have no idea what my district's plan will be. As you might imagine, I'm nervous as all hell. I'm currently teaching summer school (live Zoom classes, remotely) and trying to spend as much time in my little bubble with my immediate family until... well, I won't be able to see my parents if I'm teaching in person. So, I'm soaking it up now. About My Journey: I've lost 100+ pounds over the last two years. Before *gestures vaguely* happened, I was at -120 pounds. Now I'm at -105. I'm still proud, and not terribly concerned; we are in the midst of a crisis, after all. However, I do want to get back on track. My loose goal is to lose another 50 pounds or so (I am still "obese" by BMI standards... which we know are bull.) In general, I am going to try to build up my DnD stats for myself with 1 goal for each stat. I will award myself +1-5 for completing that goal, depending on how challenging it is for me and if I meet the goal completely). Physical Fitness = STRENGTH Stretching/Dance/ = DEXTERITY Food/Diet/Wellness = CONSTITUTION Personal Growth/Learning = INTELLIGENCE Organization/Surroundings = WISDOM Relationships/Self Care = CHARISMA My Goals: Physical Health (STR, DEX, CON) Move/Work Out for 20-30 minutes 3x per week (STR + 3) Stretch for 10-15 minutes 5x per week (DEX +2) Track my food intake daily on my app (completely) (CON +3) Mental Health (INT, WIS, CHA) Continue reading anti-racist literature / articles daily (INT +2) Adhere to my weekly cleaning/organizing schedule (WIS +5) Check in to NF at least 3x per week to update progress (CHA +4) I hope some of you will join me on my journey! I used to be an NF member, and I'm glad to be back (with a new account because I felt like a fresh start). #AssassinForLife.

Hiya fellow nerds! Im glad I found a forum like this so lemme just get into it. Im 25 and female. I used to be very healthy I took dance classes on a regular, had a decent diet and was 5'4 125LBS. Then when I turned 18 I got an auto immune disease. I was immediately put on corticosteroids for inflammation and very quickly ended up bedridden but the worst began 2 years ago when I developed a generalized anxiety disorder. In a little less than a year I put on 75LBS, was bedridden most days and am now sedentary. I also dislocated my knee last year and it has since not felt the same. I spend most time in bed now. My doctor tells me I am completely deconditioned and will have to "re-learn" everything. But where do I even begin? My body aches from excess weight and a 5 minute uphill trip makes me feel as though I'm going to pass out. Im completely out of shape. I get heart palpitations and get dizzy with the slightest effort. My diet was also in the trash for the longest time because prednisone (My auto Immune med) increases your appetite. Ive only just recently switched to eating as healthy as I can. Im not the most financially stable individual with getting sick constantly but I do what I can. I also just got a planet fitness membership but thanks to covid thats a bust. Im stuck at home and the only exercise thing I have are 2 10lbs dumbbells altho I could likely afford some type of equipment up to $50 in cost. I need so much help Im so last for where to even start. I just want to be able to cosplay Ryuko again ; A;

This is the nostalgia challenge... I honestly thought it's been a lot more years than the threads make it out to be. I joined NF in January 2015, as a Recruit (obviously), then February 2015 I went over to the Assassins, and October 2015 joined the Rangers. I made friends in Recruit and Assassins which I'm still friends with today! (or they are still friends with me, good, patient people they are ). Along this epic 5 year journey I was blessed with many more friends, all of whom had a profound influence in my life. Thank you for making my life, my world, a better place! I started off as an Amazon-Mom, wanting to loose weight and get fit and strong to enjoy life with my boys (then 5and 8yrs old respectively), and I'm back at wanting to loose weight, but still enjoying life with my husband and boys (now 10 and 13 years respectively). I am back at being mostly unfit and not as strong as I was, but I am much more fit and strong than I was then. This level of 'unfit' or 'not strong' is miles above 'that then there level, you see'. Then I didn't know that I had very limited boundaries, some would say I was an open target. Over the years NF has meant more to me, has taught me more than just health and fitness. I think I'll take a chance and say that it has matured me some, definitely taught me safe, healthy boundaries, and has healed my spirit. I might take the odd challenge off, but there is no way I can live without NF in my life. And NF is synonymous with the people. It's the people that make it special. This is the one woman that I came back to, time and again. I've been adventurers in Lord of the Rings, in Hobbits, I've been Na'avi, I've been human, and I became a non-hero Elf-ranger, having to save humanity against grime, crime and crazy monkeys. I've ridden dinosaurs, brooms, foxes, gryphens (ok, it was a hippogriff)... You've inspired me to draw, to write, to try anything... ...and your encouragement is pushing me on to keep going, keep trying. Thank you lovely people of Nerd Fitness.

Right first up, yes I got through the Black Summer fires okay, so far. Wagga Wagga where I live was one of the main evacuation points for the Riverina region of NSW. The nearest fire was 47 km away and headed south east from me. It did start within 10 km from the farm I used to live on. We did cop a lot of smoke over Christmas and New Year's, one of my son's co-workers ended up in hospital due to the smoke messing up her asthma. My kids struggled to breathe, and we had P2 breathing masks available for the asthmatics. Secondly, I disappeared as Tapatalk for some reason stopped connecting to NF, and still won't let me in. My PC crashed and with a bit of depression creeping in from unemployment, forced inactivity, and a year of failed goals that I just didn't get things sorted. PC is working again. Now onto the good news. I do not need surgery on my knee. I do need to build the strength up in my muscles surrounding my knee. I am meant to attend physio, can't afford it, so that isn't happening. This challenge is about getting out and walking again. I will also research exercises that will strengthen my knee, so to speak. My weight ballooned out over the past few months and I am now 135.1 kilograms or 297.8 pounds. Food is hard, minimal money, sucks. Bluntly I am living so far below the poverty line here in Australia that I would have to hijack a QANTAS plane to even reach it. Odds of getting a job are slim with 200 applications for every job that is available. Employers here are using keyword searches to test resumes against. If you don't have the right keyword, your application doesn't even get looked at. This challenge's goals: 1, Walking Everyday 2. Start strengthening my leg muscles to support my knee and ankle better. 3. Try to move forward from this position of poverty.

It's been a while. when you last saw me, this happened... I've mostly stayed the course, but I reinjured my back again and spent all last year trying to get back to healthy. And the better news is nice drugs that helped me deal with the pain... burnt out my kidneys (kinda stage 3 for those who are familiar with that). Goals: It's now time to go from this to this My tracking Cals and reduce sodium. 2000 cals. 109p/298c/60f and ~2000mg Sodium continue to do physical therapy and core strength work and work on shoulder mobility so I can do more cool things! There, simple and easy.

Running with/from dinosaurs Adam and I have been playing Jurassic World Evolution, so we have dinosaurs on the brain... and it fits in with the previous themes I had before taking a break Hi! I'm back from a three or four week break. I lost count *shrug*. It was good! It was needed! I'm hoping to get my motivation up a notch or two, grab this new year by the scruff and run with it. For those who don't know me, I chat a lot about how my challenge goes, but also about what happens in my life. I'll write the life stuff in my Dear Diary again, so those who want to can skip past, and just focus on The Challenge. The Challenge: 🦖MOVING: Weekdays: Clean some part of the house according to schedule. Tuesdays: Sit-relief-sequence (short exercise routine to relief muscles from too much sitting). [10x each leg] Tuesdays: (Only after extra-murals start again +- 14 Jan.) Walk, preferably with Zuzu. Wednesdays: Pushup with star leg jump. [10x] Wednesdays: (Only after extra-murals start again +-14 Jan.) Walk. Thursdays: Squat row with stretch band. [8x 20sec on, 10sec off] Fridays: Off, except for cleaning. Saturdays: Sit-relief-sequence. [10x each leg] With regards to walking: It is now definitely NOT SAFE to walk in the neighbourhood (any neighbourhood, especially with dogs or children along). I'll start walking when the boys' extra-murals start again (+-14 Jan.) because then I'm in busy spaces. I'll try to walk on a Tuesday while Rocco has fencing lessons. I could then possibly take Zuzu (our sausage dog X) with, as I'll be walking a set triangle path, next to busy school grounds, sports fields, and offices. No other dogs, and highly visible area all the time. Wednesdays will be on the farm road again, and things should still be the same around there - the farmer and his sons patrol the road sections frequently. 🦖WEIGHT LOSS: I lost 4kg during November. Reached 96.3kg. Weighed myself now to start, and I'm 96.6kg. So yah! didn't really pick up anything over this last month. Eat right, eat what I really feel like, but don't overdo it. We're still going for gluten free as much as possible; we've cut out cream in our coffee, but still have milk. We never had sugar in coffee or rooibos anyway, so keeping it that way. I've put Brandt (dear hubby) and the boys on rations with regards to snacks (biltong, dry wors, etc.) as things got a bit out of hand, and that is now also stable. I'm hardly ever eating snacks in between, so not a problem for me. Challenge wise: Weigh, measure, and report every Monday. 🦖OTHER: Sleep: Got a bit out of my sleep routine. Go to bed between 21h00 and 21h30. Finances: Although I'm fully up to date with ALL THE FINANCES (yes, even the dreaded monthlies!) I want to try and keep it up to date. Do dailies/budget update on... a daily basis, and others every Friday afternoon. This includes slips updated to our spreadsheets for the accountant (for tax purposes 3x/year). This really is a struggle for me. Although I love managing stuff and finances in games I hate doing it in real life. I am actually looking forward to this challenge. I'll do what I can when I can, but not going to force myself. I mostly need to focus on staying positive and just getting up and doing something!

Hello everyone! I am buttercupmakeup and I am not a novice when it comes to weight loss. I've actually lost 61 lbs so far, but unfortunately have been stuck for a while. I would like to take you on a journey into my back story so that all pieces of evidence can be considered! So my weight loss has been over two years of actual active weight loss. I achieved this through heavy lifting and basically keto. Well one day the platue monster decided to rear it's ugly head and has been siting guard over my coveted goal weight since that time. I am now in year three and making some changes. It took me a while not be afraid of carbs, and to have a healthy relationship with them. I would eat junk carbs when i did eat them, because carbs are bad so if I am going to be weak might as well be bad to, right? WRONG! I realized that this thought process was rather dysfunctional, and over the past month started focusing on getting my carbs from a healthy source, such as fruit, veggies, and whole grain sources. I have also started eating less meat. So a few other quick details is I started doing roller derby! this is what made me start eating carbs, because a few times I have been close to passing out from too few carbs. I also lift 3 days a week and have started doing HIIT (8 minutes not alot) 3 days a week. I know my plateau is due to A) drinking alcohol too often and not logging it (I have since cut back) B) thinking "hmmmm the mini kitkat isnt that bad I don't need to log it, C) not counting my oils, and D) Not actually weighing and measuring my portion sizes. All things have been rectified, and now I am starting to lose some weight, so here is my question... ARE YOU READY? I am maintaining around 1500-1600 calories a day, my mind is still stuck on 1200 calories as the golden number, BUT i don't think I can keep up the intensity of derby and HIIT at that low of an amount (oh and I am training for a 5k so I can get my cardio endurance up). I am 5'1" 191 lbs and my job can be any where from sitting all day to brutally active depending on the day. Do you think 1600 is too much on my extremely active days? (extremely active days includes the following: 10 minutes of cardio with sprints, 12 minutes HIIT training, 3-5 laps jogging around the track, and then 1.5 hours on my skates practicing). Please feel free to ask me anything about my current nutrition and offer me your opinion!

Running with the Dogs Tired Elize sank down to a shady spot under an Acacia tree, next to her three canine companions. They were deep in the African bush. The dry, dusty African bush. Her assignment was to find and stop the Malicious Monkeys Troop that has been infected by Maltazard. Her three companions each had a very special ability: the first with the wisdom of the ages, the second had the curiosity of the young, eager minded, and the third had the strength of the loyal protector. She herself was half human, half elf, with the lanky athleticism of the elves, their acute hearing too, but the strength of the humans. What she lacked in agility, she made up for in tenacity. She'll keep going at her task. Her blond locks was cut short, standing every which way. Her fingers had tunneled through it so many times, ruffling the locks to make a little bit of cool air to dry off the rivulets of sweat streaming down her face. Rosy, the curious Maltese canine, had been sniffing, leading them along the scent trail for hours. She was still nose to the ground, hunting for that whiff of odour that would give them a new trail to follow. Warily Elize made a cup with her one hand, filling it with water from the flask, for the companions to drink from. They were all weary and hot. The other canines noisily slurped up the precious liquid. They had to catch the monkeys and rid them of this new virus before it infected the other animals, driving them stark raving mad, sending them on rampages around bush and camps alike. It was one thing looking at the devastation that a troop of monkeys rushing through a camp could cause, quite another watching a herd of elephant, or rhino! They had to tranq the lead monkey, known locally as The One with the Evil Eye. Rosy took a noisy drink of water as well, before slumping down between Missy and Zuzu, chests heaving, tongues lolling pink against the dry, yellow grass. Just a quick respite before they go on. Late afternoon found them nearing a stand of trees on a small hillside. In the hollow below huge boulders formed an enclosed area. It was the third time that they passed this place, in as many hours. The MM Troop seemed to be running in circles from a stand of fruit trees (which were planted by migrating humans years ago), to a water hole in a slowly meandering stream, back to a copse of thorny, num-num bushes full of sour red berries, spread out around another rocky outcrop close by. This rocky, cave like area they were at now, would be ideal as base camp. Elize quickly gathered dry, broken branches for a campfire later that night. Upon closer investigation they found a small trickle of clean, fresh water dripping off the rocks in a shady spot, forming a small pool, before slowly disappearing under another rock slab. This would be a mighty fine spot indeed. As she made camp, securing the area, then settling in to make dinner, Elize heard the soft, distant sounds of African drums beating the air. The doof-doof rhythm had a calming effect right at that moment, but she knew from experience that when the rhythm changed, became faster, louder, it sent out a totally different message over the African bush. --------------------00-------------------- I woke up to someone playing this drum sound in our street the other morning. Probably a driver by, sharing his music. It gave me the idea for the theme, and if you know Jumanji, then you know that at one stage monkeys caused a lot of trouble. We are used to Vervet monkeys causing all kinds of mischief in our area. We have two troops living here, swinging and traipsing through the trees, screeching loudly to chase the other troop away when spotted. They do have a couple lookouts who are always on duty. One particular troop is very naughty, habitually stealing food and fruit from our neighbour's kitchen, tearing open bags of pet food, lounging and defecating on their stoep furniture. They even swam in their pool at one stage! Our neighbours don't have dogs. Our three dogs (Missy, Zuzu, and Rosy) are constantly running (not Zuzu so much though) out of the house chasing monkeys that dare come too close. I'm not really going to hunt down and tranquilise the monkeys (that's against the law anyway), but I'm going to try and 'run with the dogs' once a week, for a bit of extra exercise, and to try and get Zuzu a little more active. Otherwise it is business as usual: My challenge will be about de-stressing (personal me time), doing monthly finances, exercising, and watching my food intake. I have been reading the book "Kick your Fat in the Nuts, by T.C. Hale, and he was so friendly as to send me a personal email pointing out some causes for health issues I told him about. I listened to radio broadcasts from his show on various issues (skin problems - Rocco, Adam, and Brandt, gout - Brandt, acid reflux - me, and other minor ailments), to help balance your body and get the 'machine' working right, before attempting to loose weight. After Brandt and I discussed it, we decided that we really didn't want to get too deep into all the nitty-gritty of bodily functions, but to just focus on probable vitamin, mineral, deficiencies and such for now. In general we are healthy, and most of our problems are gone, except for small issues. So... De-stress: Meaning personal time breathing, OR lying down, OR sitting outside to relax, OR pray/talk for at least 10min. at a time. Just let my mind go, no reading, no games, no chatting, except when praying/talking to Father. At least 3x per week. Finances: Do monthly finances. At least August's and September's. Burpees: Twice a week at least (Tuesdays, and Thursdays), but third time on Saturdays would be tops. Every burpee in which I do a full push up, counts towards my pushup count to reach 200 cumulative over these challenges. I am currently at 121 full pushups. Walking: Try for at least the long one of the two walks a week - long one on Wednesdays, and short one on Thursdays. Dog run: Yep... try for some old fun (obstacle) training at home on a Friday afternoon. Get Zuzu running around with us a bit. Get me to lift my butt and moving every day for 10min. but especially with Zuzu. Food: Gluten-free, low on starch, carbs, and sugar: I can have one piece of special coconut oil chocolate treats, once a week. Fruit are not a problem as long as I don't have more than two a day. I'll be using my old Banting portion sizes. Water/Tea - have to keep this here. Equal to 2Lt/day. Coffee: no more than 4 mugs a day (back to small mug size). Only one mug with cream, the other with milk. Measurements: Weigh in first thing on a Monday morning, and take down measurements.

It's been a few challenges since I was here on Nerd Fitness so now it’s time I got back into my fitness routine. For my next challenge, I’m going with a 10th Kingdom theme. I did this one before, a few years ago, but since it’s soon International 10th Kingdom Watch Week, I thought it would be appropriate to do this again. And since I still don’t particularly enjoy the 4 week style challenges, I’m going to do another double challenge at 8 weeks like I did back in 2016 and 2018. That should put me at February 11-April 14, with a week in the middle for a brief rest, I think. The 10th Kingdom is my favorite movie (technically it’s a mini series) and book of all time. It’s about a young woman named Virginia who is seeking to find herself and escape from her boring life. She ends up being transported, along with her screw-up father Tony, to a magical land where fairy tales are real. And they’re not the golden fluff from Disney either! Along the way she is rescued, repeatedly, by Wolf, a reformed convict whose sole mission in life is to woo her. He is half-wolf and must fight his own animal instincts along their journey. The adventure takes them on a whirlwind tour throughout the nine kingdoms where they encounter Trolls and dwarves, a magic gold river fish, the Kissing Town, an Evil Queen, elves and fairies, poisonous mushrooms and Prince Wendell who has been turned into dog. They must help Prince regain his throne and thwart the most evil woman alive; all while simply trying to go home. My goals are properly kingdom themed too, mostly with a focus on Wolf since he’s my all-time favorite character! 3 smaller Quests 1.“Baste it, roast it, toast it, nibble it, chew it, bite right through it, wobble it, gobble it, wrap it round a couple of chickens and am I ravenous!” -Wolf Don’t Eat the Magic Mushrooms (or in my case, the magic sugary snacks!) I need to cut down on processed junk food. Ideally, I would kick the fake sugar habit completely, but that goal hasn’t ever stuck for long, so I’m going to simply be limiting my sugary snacks to only on the weekends with my blow meal and on my birthday. During the week, I want to stick to snacks like fresh fruit, popcorn and nuts. Food features as a sub-theme throughout The 10th Kingdom from the mushroom omelettes in the swamp, to the fizzy stuff in Kissingtown, to the poisoned champagne at Prince Wendell’s coronation, to the apples from the Merry Pips Apple Orchard, to the fine food from the Peeps. I know I would love one of Wolf’s bacon sandwiches! Scoring: x/40 days of no sweet treats (M-F, accept on my birthday) Reward: +4 to CON & +4 to CHA 2. “Oh cripes, they’ve found us!...Run, run!” -Wolf Walking/Running I’ve successfully added walking into my workout but I need to do better at challenging my cardio. I want to really challenge myself this time, and since it’s a double challenge, I think 60 miles in 2 months/40 days is reasonable. I’m going to walk for most of this challenge, but I also want to add in some running. Maybe run 2 times per week at the gym for 15 minutes. Miles will be added towards my total. Walking through the 9 Kingdoms was the easiest way to get around and to remain undetected from the Queen. And while I don’t plan on walking the entire length of the Disenchanted Forest (1,000 miles!), walking quickly with my heart rate up should keep me safe enough from the Huntsman to survive! Scoring: x/60 miles Reward: +3 to DEX (+1 for every 20 miles reached) 3. “You may not get hurt, but huff puff, you won’t get loved either.” -Wolf Darebee’s “Foundation” workout My husband wants to try to exercise together in the mornings, so I thought we’d give another Darebee workout a try. This time though, since it’s been awhile since we did hardcore exercises, we’re going a bit lighter with the “Foundations” workout. Even though “Foundations” is only for 30 days, I will likely repeat it for the second half of my double challenge. Or else maybe try another, 30 day workout from Darebee, we’ll see. To get around in the 9 Kingdoms, you have to be quick on your feet and ready to go old school with transportation, which can include anything from riding horses, to carriages, to simply walking everywhere. You also need to be able to think on your feet and make good choices. So healthy and fit overall. All the characters, but particularly Wolf and Prince, are decently physically active and it helps them get around more easily. Scoring: x/60 days of Foundations Reward: +4 to STA Huff puff let's do this!

Good Morn, Noon, Eve, one and all! This nerd has a goal to obtain! To become healthier person for my family and for myself. I want to be able to play with my kids and feel good marrying the king I love; for the latter, I only have 6 months to achieve this goal. I am an extremely self-conscious Queen with many mental and physical wounds to overcome. A mother of three; to two handsome princes, and a darling princess. I weigh in around 180lbs at 5'2" tall. My goal is to lose 50lbs to get back to my pre-baby weight of 130lbs. In order to do this, I have taken upon myself the Diet of Keto as well as plan to combine this with cardio and compound exercises. I don't have access to the Arms and Armory so I will have to train at home. Any and all advise is welcome. Thank you.

Hello everybody , I am a male 18 years i started working out from 10 months i lost 5.5 kg from 78.5 to 73 and i gained some muscle mass with private coach then i stopped for a while and from about 5 months i returned to the gym but i didn't continued as i didn't have a trainer,Now i am 77 kg and i want to go back to the gym and i decided to follow online workout but i can't determine which will be good for me and my body and i am overwhelmed by this many workout and also many splits i don't which to follow. I will be grateful if you can help me thanks in advance.

This battle log is for March, April, May. I'll review its effectiveness at the end of May. I'm tracking my exercise and calories on my own, but I realized I need a spot to say "I worked out today!" and "I ate all my veggies today!" as well as a place to record my weight loss and other health-related progress. So this going to be a pretty dry thread. Right now, my exercises of choice are walking, aerobics and dancing, stationary biking, and yoga. I track these using the S Health App. My favorite healthy foods right now are creamed vegetable soup, oatmeal with apples, and honey mustard chicken. The soup is a little bit of a pain to make, but then I have soup for days I still like the idea of challenges. Right now, stress reduction is a huge focus in my life. I think I'll use the 4 week challenges for personal growth, where this will be more for keeping accountable for daily habits. This battle log is forEVER, as long as I need it to be for the purposes of reaching my goals and maintaining them. Also, I love that the Strikethrough doesn't work on smiley faces. It would be sad to strike out smiles

Last challenge, over in warriorland, I implemented my 23andMe results into a diet and exercise plan. I wound up floundering around quite a bit. Weight went up for a while, now it's back down. I realized that weightlifting during weight loss is not a winning strategy for me, even tho I want it to be. So, I'm back. One thing I did realize is that I really like thinking about biological problems, which is probably why I went after a PhD in genetics a while back. (settled for the M.S. after 6 years and being burned out). I looked at my results, and figured out a dietary program which mostly works so far. I went with a gluten free, lactose free, pescatarian diet and lasted a month before I kinda derailed for a couple days for cheeseburgers and pizza. If I could had a taste of one or the other it would have been worth it, but now I know that both was overkill. Now I alternate fish and poultry every day, so I'm feeling a little more balanced and able to hold off on meats. Anywho, point is I used science to solve a health-related thing and it was fun. I kinda thought about getting back into some research or being a doctor, and somehow took a practice/sample MCAT exam. I did terrible, but it was mostly from forgetting simple facts I learned in undergrad/gradschool. Somehow the idea wormed its way into my brain and now I can't think of anything else but to at least try. So this will be my last big attempt at being like OMG, he's a doctor successful. Bear in mind. I'm not doing this because I hate being a machinist. That is a good steady job and I sense some opportunities on the horizon in my current company (QA manager is kind of an idiot bro and I know I could do a better job managing his department) but I'd still need at least a year at the company to move up, and probably some experience in that department would help. But before I"m a year in at the machine shop, I'm going to take the MCAT before I choose to settle in. I haven't scheduled it yet, but I'm hoping to schedule it in Jan. If I do well I'll start moving in that direction and apply. Go back to school and take a couple pre-reqs, work in some bio labs. If I do it I'm going for neurosurgery. Why aim any lower? (also, google avg. neurosurgeon salary and try to to squeal and go "I want, gimme!") Edit: And now we're naming goals after brain partz! Goals: Goal 1, Hippocampus! The hippocampus is the part of the brain involved in memory formation. This goal is about studying/cramming for the MCAT. I've got four years of undergrad science classes worth of material to review in less than six months. I bought a boxed set of study guides for the test (seriously, material is almost identical to my B.S. Biology with a minor in chem and psych), and it comes with three online practice tests. The plan is to work through those guides, and take a practice test each month before January (three tests in this set, plus the three available on the AAMC website). I want to finish reading the books, then take the first practice exam at the end of this challenge. (3288 pp. and I'm already about 700 down in the first week). Goal 2,Spinal Cord! Even when complex movements are worked out somewhere else in the brain, our balancing abilities, reflexes, and the final motor output are controlled by the spinal cord. This is my yoga goal. Mindful, stretching, and balancing is the way to go if you're gonna be a neurosurgeon. Got work on balance, muscle control and endurance in all those posture muscles to work so I can keep my balance. Yoga, 3x per week. Goal 3, Anterior Cingulate Cortex! This part of the brain is believed to have roles in processing self-awareness, consciousness, empathy, morality, emotion, and bunch of similar stuff that Buddhists and people into mindfulness talk about. This is my meditation goal. I'm back on doing Soto Zen Zazen in the morning after a quick stretch sesh. It's a good way to start the day. Do morning meditation daily (>= 10 min). Goal 4, Cerebellum! The cerebellum (or little cerebrum) coordinates complex motor movements. The commands for movement usually initiate from the motor cortex along with the help of a few other places. The problem is that the signals are not refined. The cerebellum fine tunes those signals so that muscle contractions are coordinated and balanced. This is my coordination goal. Use my time at work to develop the connection between my eyes, hands, and brain. Not to mention my art and guitar playing. I've already got a lot of acumen when it comes to the eye-hand-brain thing. I just need to do some thing daily to steadily improve. Practice a fine motor skill involving the hand and eye every day. This could be painting/drawing, playing an instrument, or tinkering/fixing something. But! I have to challenge myself and put forth maximum effort so that I improve. Goal 5, Pineal Gland. The pineal gland regulates sleep/wakefulness. It secretes melatonin which regulates your circadian clock (daily metabolic cycle) and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) which is the most powerful hallucinogen known to man.Its the chemical that knocks you out. It's also called the spirit molecule. Hippies think the pineal gland is the "third eye" and a window into the spiritual realm. This is my sleep goal. My aim is to habituate myself to functioning on less sleep. Right now I'm shooting for 6 hours per night as opposed to the 8-9 I usually get. This seems counterintuitive to health, but the fact is if I want to/can become a doctor, I have to figure out how to function on less sleep and do complex things while I'm a little groggy. I'm just going to see what happens if I stick to just 6 hours a night M-F for now. I'm in my second week of this and it's actually going well. I actually sleep much better, and deeply, I'm less groggy in the morning, and I have more energy. Of course, partly this is linked with an improved diet. Goal 6, Pre-frontal cortex. The pre-frontal cortex is the big area behind your forehead (it includes the anterior cingulate cortex) that is involved with logic/reason, planning, and moderating social behavior... adulting. This is my adulting/stoic goal. Clean kitchen and bathroom weekly. Tidy up daily for like 10 min. Schedule a trip to the doctor. Schedule a trip to the dentist. Finish reading Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. Back on that too.One of the facts of being a doctor/surgeon is that you can't fix or control everything or everybody. You lose patients. You can make mistakes and ruin lives. Even with the utmost of effort and skill, it will happen and you have to strengthen yourself to accept and cope with those facts. Not wanting that level of responsibility, not wanting to bear such a burden is probably what kept me away from medicine in the first place. Every bio student has to consider it. First, I chose research but wound up in a field that just burned me out. But part of research in speciation is that human lives do not hang in the balance of every decision. So it was cozy for a while. Now I want to do something with some real weight to it and hopefully do some good. I actually thought about it pretty deeply last week. The time it takes to become a neurosurgeon is another 11 years (4 in med school, 7 in residency). Yes the paycheck is dangling there, but on the way are the lives of so many people that I might be able to help. Neurosurgeons save people from brain tumors, aneurysms, paralysis, and pain. If I can help even one person, change or save even one life, all that effort will have been worth it. Plus, brains are super neat.

Rangers, meet Charlie (and me) For those who aren't caught up yet, here's a quick insight into my current life: And here's a quick "What had happened was..." for last challenge: So! Goals for this challenge: 1. Unburden mah hoss (Lose 5lbs) - Main focus Log all my food in Cronometer, and share it with you fine folk. Run / Workout on days I don't ride, and share those logs here as well. 2. Look ta thuh horizon (Set up a routine for the next challenge) Once graduated, my schedule with B Troop will change significantly. Musters will take place once a week (Wednesdays) instead of three days a week; however, I will still be expected to ride my mount regularly on my own in order to keep him [and myself] ready for events. I plan to change my workout routine at that point to accommodate those requirements, and to improve my own strength and endurance (and continue to lose weight). Sooo... charge?