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Last month's focus was on daily exercise w/ a goal of losing 5lbs. Results: Exercised daily from Jan 1 - Feb 4. Wt dropped from 191.6 to 182.8 (probably about 7lbs of true wt loss) An unintended result of starting the daily exercise habit was eating a daily salad. So I'm keeping focus on that as well. This challenge: Habits - I'm not ready to start any new habits. I want to further embed the ones I already have created. So this months keystone habit (KH) focus will simply be to keep the following: KH1) No M (That is a private one, and no, it's not meth) - 0 occurences since Nov 1, 2017 KH2) Daily exercise (Some form of exercise daily, cannot include home projects, Placeholder w/o acceptable as needed) - Kept since Jan 1, 2018. KH3) Salad minimum of 5 days/wk (I count wraps and BLT's as a salad since I pile on the romaine, spinach, and tomato) - Kept since Jan 1, 2018 Exercise - Cardio/core focus. I alternate each day w/ either strength training or cardio/core focus. Since I can't do each at high intensity and exercise every day, my main focus this month is cardio/core. I'll be doing less exercises on strength days. No goal relative to cardio/core. I routines of different intensitys for all my workouts and I'll be doing the higher intensity cardio/core w/o's. Goal 1 - Lose 5lbs. My "ideal" wt is 175-178. I feel my best around this wt and I find 5lbs of loss per month to be a reasonable expectation. Goal 2 - Complete 4 Solid Works training modules. This is job related. Each module is a little over 1hr long, but there is practice required between modules. Also, its not a goal or habit requirement, but I thought I'd maintain a "To Do" list just to keep myself motivated to get things done I keep putting off. To Do: 1) Log HSA expenditures for 2017 so I can write them off on this years taxes.

Well, it's the start of 2018 and I'm at my heaviest ever (191.6). Focusing on creating habits will be my foundation, although I've learned that even habits kept for +6 months can unravel. No M has been the longest running habit I've kept (don't bother asking what that is) but even after a good year of No M, I fell off the wagon. However, I started No M again and its been 2 months as of Dec 31. I've been working out sporadically through Dec, so KH2 will be Daily Exercise. This one comes pretty easy for me, especially since white water kayaking season starts in about 4months and I need to be fit for that sport (especially at 57). So here is my plan for the year: Develop the following Keystone Habits: KH1: No M since Nov 1, 2017 KH2: Daily exercise - Start Jan 1 Future KH's: Quit Smoking, more to come Goals for the year: 1) Weigh 165 lbs 2) Press palms to the ground w/ knees locked 3) 4 pullups 4) 135 lb bench 10 times in perfect form 5) Complete all relevant Solid Works tutorials I will achieve success for the month if I: 1) Perform some type of exercise daily (including place holder workout) 2) Lose 5lbs 3) Complete 4 hours Solid Works training

Not sure I'm nerdy enough for a challenge cause I don't know how to add bars, keep points, and don't have a cool character to create, but I'll give it a shot. I'm into white water kayaking which gets harder to do every year (I'm 55). My MO is generally to spend 4 months getting in shape (flexibility, drop wt to 164, general strength conditioning) in preparation for kayak season which starts around mid-April for me (when there is still ice on the banks. Around end of October, kayak season ends and I let my wt increase from 164 to 176 (which is where I am now). I'm not sure how I'm going to balance logging in the challenge w/ my Battle Log. I like the battle log since it keeps a never ending history but I'll try adding stuff here for 1 challenge and see how it goes. Main Quest for this challenge: Create the foundation for getting back in shape by committing to some essential daily habits. This month is just about getting the habits formed as part of a foundation. My weight always takes care of itself when I get the habits in place. Goal 1 - Protein shake Protein shake for breakfast - This will replace the donut I've been eating every morning on the way to work. Started this Dec 28. Goal 2 - Salad Eat a salad 6 days/wk - Salads are a great way to replace some processed crap at dinner or lunch w/ something that's actually healthy and low in calories (romaine, spinach, tomatos, grapes, mandarin orange, cottage cheese). Started this Dec 28. Goal 3 - Exercise Exercise 7 days/wk. I did this for 5 months straight in 2015 (0 days missed) and felt great. Of course, not all w/o's are the same intensity. I'll use the same plan as 2015 which was to choose one of the following everyday: A) Intense wt lifting 3*/wk (my intensity) - basic wt lifting like bench, pulldowns, seated pulls, shoulder press, lift and press, etc Core + flexibility - 5min tread + 4 core exercises (lying crunch, seated ab machine, decline situps, machine twist, back bends) + 14 stretching exercises C) Sport - type depends on season but I like variety (indoor wall climbing, kayaking, hiking, skiing) D) 10 freebody squat placeholder - a couple times a month life throws a curve that takes up all time so I use a placeholder which consists of just 10 freebody squats. It has no significant physical benefit but is just to remind my brain that exercise is now a daily habit. Goal 4 - Life Stop reading CNN news when I get to work - OK, I've got the bad habit of checking out CNN news on the internet when I get to work for about 20min. This extends my time at work and the bulk of the info provided is the latest rant by some politician (I won't say any names but everything about him is the best and he is glad to tell everyone that daily). This habit needs to change. Goal 5 - Side Quest Skip smoking 1 day just to show myself that it is possible and my world won't collapse. Just 1 day. Quit later. Here is what I'm prepping for. This is my friend and I on the Wolf river in Wisconsin: