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This round is a foray into the Way of Wisdom, making soulful, good choices and making space for those choices. The key to this challenge is to take my time, slow down, and remember that there is no pressure. It's time to make time as well as take time. In this Way, all the dots are connected and all the details are in order. Classwork is the success matrix, but there’s a lot of life that is going to happen along the Way. Intelligence: This is the key, and there are a lot of details, but not nearly as many moving parts as there were last round. I came back from NY and was very disengaged, and I’m glad to note that spell passed, but here we are with me taking a very sharp-eyed look at how much I put on my plate this term; it was a lot. It was, in fact, too much, and I’ll not be repeating this (see Wisdom) Strength: Go to work; edited to add a bonus of paying off debt, since this has shifted into the stregnth category. Wisdom: Tuition payment; not signing up for everything under the sun next term. This is a season of focus. Constitution: Eating well; resting often. Bonus: sauna & Steps. I have a fancy MRI during Zero Week to figure out what is going on with my insides. Also, I started gym time twice a week in the pool with Kat and Mikayla and I’d like to continue that. Dexterity: A double helping of dexterity was needed last round. I’ll likely need some dexterity for this challenge too, and I need to make the space to let that happen. Stamina: Anton Chekov wrote, “Any idiot can handle a crisis; it’s the day to day living that wears you out.” Wisdom can help. Opening Stats Con 9 Str 8 Int 12 Dex 12 Wis 11 Cha 11 Sta 4

Disclaimer: This has been a hell of a year!! Plus, keeping it positive here Secondary Disclaimer: Really, I'm going to really respawn this time This is going to be a respawn of Intergalactic (and sometimes inter-dimensional) proportions I have been on a roller coaster of a year and with 40 right around the corner, it's time to really get back on the ball and get myself in shape in all ways. This is something I really need to commit to in a major way. So, without further ado, here comes the challenge!!! This challenge (and for several more to come afterwards) will be themed Star Trek (Next Generation and beyond). Why? Mostly because I've figured out my answer to the whole Star Wars/Star Trek debate and yes, the winner is Star Trek for so many reasons. So, with a definite rewatch of ALL of TNG, DS9 and Voyager (maybe Enterprise but I've seen it recently enough), we are going to start this one with becoming the embodiment of our favorite acting ensign of the 1701-D, Wesley Crusher (plus I just freaking love Wil Wheaton!). He learned much of what he knows and believes in because of the positive role models he had so what I will do is try to embody some of the traits that they have including: Being Stronger like Worf! Worf, even in his earliest days aboard the Enterprise, was very stalwart and strong learning what he could of the ship as a junior officer then to his promotion to Chief of Security. Pushing his boundaries, becoming better than he was before, usually with his calestetics programs on the Holodeck. In that respect, I need to make sure that I am making myself stronger. Less physically frail, less weak in the knees (literally), and able to do more on a day to day basis. So straight up, what I need to do is take just 10-15 minutes daily to do some kind of activity. Initially I'm looking to do things that will focus on the arms and core. Daily, I can do it!! Being Smarter like Data! Data, oh my wonderful mechanical man!! He was smart clearly due to his positronic brain and being an android though new experiences were always some of the best teachers. This plan will focus on getting back into reading and not of the fictional variety. Technical magazines, non-fiction of various subjects (history, technology), that is what I will delve into with this goal. I plan to find a book to read through the entire challenge and magazines as I can but at least one a week. Being Emotional Braver like Troi! Troi has always worn her emotions on her sleeve considering that she feels the emotions of just about anyone and anything out there being a Betazoid. Even in the throws of some of the most terrifying adversaries and entities she has been stronger than the largest Klingon and braver than the most daring Starfleet officer. I have had quite the emotionally baffling year so my goal is to be more aware of my emotions, my feelings, and my effect on others in my life. In a more concrete way, I will show my gratitude on here in the form of a devotion to someone or something that has been transformative for myself, whether it be something that I've done within the year or more recently (needless to say, especially to my friends here, we've got a lot of catching up to do). Three times a week should be sufficient for now. Be in Command (of my life) like Picard! Captain Jean-Luc Picard, what can we say about him and Wesley.... besides an inescapable amount of "Shut up Wesley"s? Outside of some underlying father issues, quite a bit actually. Commanding officer, father figure, teacher, mentor, personification of a proper officer. Quire frankly, what I need to do it take a more firm command over my life in so many aspects along with the fitness. So, my overall goal will be to do this in increments and a different aspect each month. This month I'm going to go right for the financial jugular and start hitting the finances. Now, unless I decide to just copy and paste every single statement and bill I have, this is going to take some work. The plan starts like this: Beginning tomorrow, I will need to be more conscious of my spending habits which will include fast food purchases, entertainment decisions, the whole enchilada. I will provide baselines for all my financial data shortly and then give updates for my (hopefully really good) decisions. At least twice weekly updates will come about. The challenge starts tomorrow... ENGAGE!!!

In the words of Maester Yandel, “The People of the Stormlands are like unto their weather. Tumultuous, violent, implacable, unpredictable." They are also some of the strongest, toughest, and most ready for war. I said in my last challenge that Dorne is my favorite of the seven kingdoms, but my favorite houses are all Stormlands, especially the Marcher Lords who guarded the lands of the Storm Kings of old against their enemies to the South (Dorne) and West (the Reach). Rather than doing a history challenge, I'm going to highlight the many amazing characters in show and book who are Stormlanders, and try to emulate them in some small way. (Once again, I’ll try to avoid spoilers, but there may be a few for Season/Book One that I can’t white out without whiting out the whole thing) I must start, of course, with House Baratheon. Storms End Durran’s Point, Shipbreaker Bay– King Robert Baratheon is a once-powerful man, now gone to seed. A man with enormous appetites and enormous temper, as well as a once-enormous strength. It’s folly to look to Robert for an example of wisdom, but for strength, stamina, and natural charisma, he is a paragon. I will honor Robert’s appetites (especially his love of hunting and meat) by ensuring I make my protein goals each day. Straight percentage of protein servings eaten. CON 2 King/Lord Stannis Baratheon embodies the implacable nature of Stormlanders. A grim and determined man, he survived a siege at Storms’ End during Robert’s Rebellion, until Davos Seaworthy smuggled in onions and salt pork. He also tirelessly leads his armies on forced marches during the War of the Five Kings, including through the unforgiving Northern autumn. I will honor Stannis’ endurance by putting one foot in front of another for the entirety of the challenge. 50,000 steps per week. STA 2 DEX 1 King/Lord Renly Baratheon, the youngest child of Lord Steffon Baratheon, is seen by many as Robert come again, in his hale and hearty youth. Like Robert, and unlike Stannis, he has the ability to make friends of his allies, binding men and women to him with love and admiration, not merely grim duty. As lord of Storms End, his support from the Stormlanders in unsurprising, but it is his alliance with Highgarden through Margery and Loras Tyrell which enabled him to boast that “You may have the better claim, but I have the bigger army”. Renly knows well that an army marches on its stomach, and the rich, fertile lands of the Reach are his best allies in face of the coming winter. In honor of Renly’s vigor and appreciation of beauty, as well as his alliance with Highgarden, I will add more produce to my diet. 5 fruits and veg daily – percentage of success. (to succeed, one serving of leafy greens or salad is necessary) CON 2 CHA 1 Moving south into the Red mountains brings us to House Selmy. Harvest Hall, in the Marches. As a major Marcher house, House Selmy has fielded many mighty warriors and fine knights. In the late second century after Aegon’s Conquest, no living knight is more famous and admied than Ser Barristan Selmy of the Kingsguard, called “the Bold”. He entered a joust at age ten as a Mystery Knight, and won renown not only on the Tourney field, but also serving as a member of the Kingsguard under King Jaehaerys II during the War of the Ninepenny Kings, King Aerys II during Robeert’s Rebellion, and King Robert I during Balon’s Rebellion. He is currently serving Daenerys Stormbord as Queensguard, and offering not only a strong sword arm, but also much-needed advice and insight into Westeros. In honor of Ser Barristan’s wisdom, I will keep up with the Omer daily. WIS 1 Continuing into the Marches brings us to another Marcher stronghold, Blackhaven, seat of House Dondarrion, in the Marches. While less famous than Ser Barristan, Lord Berric Dondarrion is nonetheless an honorable and able knight. Founder of the Brotherhood without Banners and walking miracle, Lord Berric is resurrected by the Red Priest Thoros of Myr and becomes more symbol than man, protecting the smallfolk from the ravages of war. However, Lord Berric’s renewal is a double-edged sword, as his memories and self are disappearing under the weight of mission. To honor his sacrifice and attempt to not fall into the trap of losing self in my mission, I will meditate and stretch 5 times per week. Stretch/Meditate 5 per week. A contemplative or restorative yoga session can work. WIS 1 DEX 1 Swinging southwest, we leave the Marches for Tarth, and island in the Narrow Sea, seat of House Tarth of Evenstar Hall. Its best-known scion (apart from Ser Galladon Tarth of legend, wielder of the sword Just Maid) is Brienne of Tarth, former member of Renly’s Rainbow Guard, now in service to the women of House Stark. Despite being no knight, Brienne is a model of knightly behavior and chivalry. She trained her entire life, and became strong and skilled enough to win the great melee of 166 knights at Bitterbridge, besting Loras Tyrell and much of the combined chivalry of the Reach and the Stormlands. She also fought and bested Ser Jaime “the Kingslayer” Lannister (though admittedly not at his best). In honor of her dedication to her cause and hard work, I will train for strength four times a week. Train for strength and health four times week. A video, a bodyweight, or a shovelglove session all count. STR 3 This leaves (among famous Stormlanders of recent history) two other “houses”, scattered and unknown. The first is (so spoilery for the books that [seriously] don’t read this unless you’ve read all the books through Dance or never ever intend to. I was going to leave this out completely, but I couldn’t. This is going to be all whited out, forever, because he doesn’t exist, as far as anyone in the Seven Kingdoms is concerned, and his goals are also hugely spoilery. Fair warning, seriously don’t read this. Also, for those of you who have, I’m going out on a limb and writing my opinion of what’s really going on, going a step beyond what we actually know. So half of this is fan theory/headcanon. Ok? Ok.)**** Ser/Lord Jon “Griff” Connington of Griffon’s Roost, located on Cape Wrath. A close friend of the late Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Connington fled Westeros after the Battle of the Bells. While exiled in Essos, he joined the Golden Company, where he fell in with Blackfyre supporters and eventually was chosen by Illyrio Mopatis and Varys to be protector and guide to Aegon “Young Griff” Targaryen, a pretender to the Iron Throne and probable Blackfyre heir. (The Golden Company is literally led by Bittersteel’s gilded skull. He’s totally a pretender.)**** The second is the lost scions of House Baratheon, true (if not trueborn) heirs to Robert. Scattered throughout Westeros, got on highborn ladies, commoners, and prostitutes, there are Stones, Waterses, and Storms aplenty with the blue eyes and black hair of their father. Relevant to the current tale are Mya Stone (Robert’s probably firstborn) of the Vale, Gendry {Waters} of Kings’ Landing, and Edric Storm. In honor of these other Stormlanders, dispossessed and scattered, I will try one new thing over the next four weeks, once for each. Ideally, something climby for Mya, hammer for Gendry, educated for Edric, and ???? for Connington. This is purposefully vague, but it needs to be something a little big. Cooking a new dish would count, ordering a new thing at a restaurant wouldn’t. CHA 1 (I don't know why no one makes Edric Storm fanart)

Though I never stopped tracking the leveling-up of my life, I wasn't commenting on the NF forums. My old battle log is now inactive. Here comes some more! Me? I'm a family man, physician assistant, sci-fi novelist, and triathlete. I have sucked at all of those except the PA at one time or another, but visualizing myself as a video game hero changed my perception, and I changed my level of success.

Greetings All! I'm back for seconds! And this time, I'm joining with my fellow men and women Assassins. Extremely excited to be continuing the journey here for my health and well-being. If the way I'm posting my challenges seems weird, it's because I'm using the method of naming used for the episodes of the series Chuck. I really loved this show and think that they way they had the episodes named made me smile (i.e. Chuck vs. The Wookie, Chuck vs. The Nacho Sampler). So, in my own little way, I'm trying to go from Super Nerd to Super Spy Nerd. Goal #1: To keep up on the progress of changing my keg to a 24-pack (and hopefully less) I'm going to increase my exercise game in two parts. This time I'm taking advantage of a lot more than just the bodyweight circuits but I'm also going to up the days. 4 days a week for the bodyweight workouts. How hard could that be, especially if I'm going to be dedicated to trimming down? (+2 STR, +1 DEX, +2 STA) Goal #2: Goal two will focus on the home cooking. I know that cooking bug is in me, I just need to bring it to the surface. This time around we are going to go for 2 dinners per week. Maybe I'll throw in something special (Paleo, low carb) but haven't ironed that one out yet. It's better than ending up with donuts all the time! (+1 WIS, +1 CHA) Goal #3: I've decided to make goal 3 one that will also help both body and spirit. Along with the bodyweight workouts, I'm going to be adding yoga and cardio (mostly walking/running) into the mix. Theoretically I can do these also on some of my bodyweight days. My goal will be to get two 30 minutes sessions in a week, so I'll be a good yoga routine or about a 2 mile walk at this point. (+1 STR, +2 STA, +2 CON) Goal #4: My Life Quest is going to focus on my financial health. My credit and finances aren't awesome so they could use some improvement. I'm going to be looking into a minimum of 1 personal finance methodology per week during the challenge. (+2 WIS) Basically, I want to be able to get my entire life looking and feeling AMAZING!!! Here's to the Second Challenge!! Me dancing, more or less

This is a group for those of us who have a few more birthdays than the average Rebellion member. We love all the young whipper snapper members of the Rebellion , but it is nice to have a place to chat where people understand some of your cultural references (it was our generation that first loved Star Wars) and what is like to train when your body is not as cooperative as it once was. If you are over 50 (or close to, I'm not 50 yet myself) and want to join up to find all the other old wise people, this is the group for you.

Last challenge was a complete failure, so I need to take some time off from Epic Questing to get my head back in the game. My mental fortitude took an ass kicking last challenge and without working on my Wisdom stat I don’t feel like I’ll be able to keep levelling up effectively. I just want to have fun with this one and stop stressing so much! I also miss the druids and now that spring is here I want to be mindful enough of the outside world to truly enjoy it. MAIN QUEST: DIE HAPPY Simples. Current quest: Cheer the f*** up. Step 1 - One long meditation session a week. +1000 points I get stressed trying to remember to do so many things a day, that I figure I'll just give myself one session to remember to do and be done with it. I should try to make it over 20 minutes but to be honest, as long as I'm meditating I'm winning. Step 2 - One long yoga session a week. +1000 points Same thing as with the meditation. I get so stressed and guilty about not doing everything I should that I freeze and do nothing. Should be at least half an hour of yoga, but any yoga is pretty much a win right now. Step 3 - Keep a log of how I feel day-to-day. +100 points p/day I'm getting better at noting what changes my levels of happiness and affects me greatly, but if I can actually see it and write it down I can then work out what I need to do to avoid dramatic mood swings and dips in motivation. Some things I could log; -work hours -weather (if it affected actions/mood of the day) -positives / negatives about the day -sleep quality (time awake, / sleeping, feel upon waking) -foods, if they had an effect on my body. -different moods throughout day, what changed them. !! Bonus Missions !! These are things I should do but don't always feel like doing and I'm not going to guilt myself into doing them. I want to create triggers for good decisions based on how I'm feeling or what I'm not doing. - Extra meditation or yoga sessions during the week. +20 points per session - Use bodyweight exercises to release anger. +100 points - Be creative if I'm sitting around fidgeting. +50 points - Attempt to talk to someone in my social circle about how I’m feeling / what I’m thinking. +200 points - Get out of the house. +50 points - Clean something, anything if feeling bored. +100 points - Say something nice to myself. +10 points per nice thing - Add a serve of steamed vegetables to any meal. +20 points per serve of vegetables

Battle Log. Here it is! I started this in 2012, inspired by Nerd Fitness. This is what I do instead of challenges now, as it's more long-term. i was doing both, but it was too much paperwork. I'll explain as I earn points in each of the nine areas.

Hello.. um.. All? My very first post. Big Step for me. So.. First out the gate, I have lurked and received all the new emails etc from NF, attempted some of the beginner workouts and then I found my dragons. Coming in a stride behind, rounding the turn, and... smack right into the dragon, not even half way down the backstretch. In case you can't guess, yep I love horses, of which I have two (one being the rideable full sized version, the other the mini party fun sized). Now to describe my dragons.. they are the big intelligent fiery reds, or the more seductive and elusive blacks. I recently (and FINALLY!) was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. This process start to diagnosis took YEARS because I don't present typically for either condition and throw in some hypermobility of the joints, yep just a bundle of contradictions. Throw in a divorce in the middle, and fast foward to now (age 29). At first I thought I could just workout and maintain fitness or more precisely get back to a good level of fitness, now that is MUCH harder than I believed it would be (slaying the dragon?). All that being said, now for the wisdom requirement.. Does anyone have suggestions on workouts? I can't do high impact anymore, I do like yoga, but not into the whole technical side of it in other words, I understand child's pose not vinyasa something or other, and I did try the beginner's workouts/hotel workouts, but squats/lunges seem to put fire into my knees. I am limited on the arm/wrist/hand movements as my joints bending too far will not let the muscle take the brunt like it is supposed too. I am limited time wise to my lunch hour or whatever time I squeeze from not working with my horses (one I ride the other I taught to pull a cart) in the evening. Thanks all, and Happy Trails.

As my sixth challenge, I'm looking to recenter and bring clarity back to my lift. I joined Nerd Fitness back in August on 2013 with a mission in mind, and I have lost the path toward that goals. The wilderness I'm wandering in isn't where I want to be, and while not all journeys are fraught with danger, this one is. I need to take some time to look inward and focus on the things that bring me happiness, strength, honor, wisdom and peace. Main Quest: Drop to 8% BF, eliminate stomach fat. Squat 1.5x Bodyweight, Deadlift 2x bodyweight. OHP, Bench and Row 1x bodyweight. This continues to be my overarching body goal. I'm getting pretty close, but this challenge I am adding an addition to it. I'm focusing more on mental and spiritual health this challenge, rather than just fitness. In order to hit this goal I am driving forward with several sub goals, which will be worked into this challenge. Steadily increase my Squat, Deadlift and Pull Ups in weight and number.Do Salmon Ladder Pull-Ups. Because... seriously.I also want to, eventually, get my mile-run speed down to 7 minutes solid. I'm starting this challenge two days late because PAX East was last weekend and I got the dreaded con crud, so I'm a bit under the weather. That means no gym, but a focus on eating right and resting. So let's get on with it. Quest 1: Rest [Con] This one is simple - get enough sleep. I haven't been sleeping much lately and I need to get back into a solid rhythm/pattern of rest. This means focusing on my morning and evening routines, getting at least 7 hours of sleep at night and waking up before the sun every morning. Morning - Wake up before the sun, drink a glass of water, stretch and do pull ups, push ups and lunges - 3 sets of 3. Drink first cup of coffee. Check email, Facebook, Twitter, webcomics and blogs within first hour of waking up. Shower, make breakfast, drink second cup of coffee. Finish up routine Internet things within second hour of waking up. Start working. Evening - Eat dinner before sunset. Turn off screens at least 30 minutes before sleep, light candles and lamps and read till at least 7 hours before sunrise - go to bed. That's it - easy enough, right? Quest 2: Meditate [Wis] My goal this challenge is to meditate for at least 5-15 minutes every day. This can be at any time during the day - meditation on a schedule doesn't work for me. Furthermore, this needs to be zazen meditation, not any other kind. Focused on breathing and mindfulness. Quest 3: Eat Right [Con] Get my eating on track, drink less and go primal. This is more or less habit for me, but lately I've been drinking more and caring about my food less. So, as part of this challenge I need to get back into tracking my food on MyFitnessPal, as this helps keep me accountable. Negative points for more than 3 drinks a week and for any non-primal foods I imbibe. Must track every meal on MyFitnessPal every day. Life Quest: Explore my ancestral heritage [Cha] I've been exploring Asatru - the religion of the vikings - recently, and I want to learn more and delve deeper into the community in my area. I'm attending a May Day Blot on April 26, and participation here, as well as weekly devotionals and research are the quest here. This is as basic as honoring the gods and my ancestors once a week, and doing some reading on Asatru, the Eddas and other materials. Fitness Quest: Workout [str] Keeping steady with my fitness goals as well - My final quest is to continue working out. I did a deload in my Stronglifts program and I'm going to start from there, working on progressive loading back up to my primary strength goals. So the prerequisites for this quest are lifting, moving and doing yoga three times a week. Onward!

I honestly can't remember how many times I've been here, but I havn't been here in a while so hullo again! Big Boss: Ganon - The Legend of Zelda My main goal is to lose weight. Specifically, I want to lower my body fat % and have a more defined shape, show off my muscles instead of hiding them, you know? Gotta make some more muscles for that too I don't particularly care about what size pants I wear or how many inches my waist is, those are just methods to show that what I'm doing is doing something. I have a family-genetics related silhouette that I used to have that I'm trying to snatch back and it's getting closer every day. I'm going to recycle and repurpose some old goals because they're fun. The Science of Deduction - Sherlock I've been doing this one for a while now, at work I can now mostly determine what kind of person I'm serving and predict how their going to act throughout my serving them, which is cool as well as useful. I wish I could try to deduce their lives without pissing them off though, for some reason that seems impossible with the people I encounter whom may be having an affair... ;P So a continuation and a refinement of the skill set I already have, let's see if I can be able to deduce what kind of meal my customer wants before they've ordered by the end of these 6 weeks. Run. - Doctor Who The ground is a frozen racetrack of dangerous fantastic possibilities! Just gotta bundle up and go outside. 15 minutes per day outside time, 15 minutes running up and down the stairs inside. Inside running can be exchanged for outside play, but not the reverse. Total 3.5h/wk ~ 21h for the whole challenge. Water! - Ponyo Water is this super magical thing that I've been avoiding about half my life for some forgotten reason. I still occasionally struggle with accedentally dehydrating myself so the goal here is to get up to a maintain a healthy water intake measured by - ahem - dehydration measuring methods (urine colour). Basically the lighter the better. Stay in the hydrated zone for the whole of the 6 weeks!

I had a DEXA scan yesterday (body composition). Part of the analysis is a chat with a doctor about goals and a recommendation on Macros to support those goal. My goal is the holy grail....primarily fat loss but also muscle growth. Results were: Weight = 81kg (178 pounds) BF% = 18.5% Recommended Macros = 169g protein, 206g Carbs, 111g fat. 2 things came up which smell a bit of Conventional Wisdom so I would like to get some opinions on the following: 1. Any more than 40g of protein in one sitting is not useful to the body and not worth ingesting. 2. This recommended carbs number of 206g is a lot more than I have been eating recently. He told me to get these carbs from brown rice and oats. Is this a reasonable number and a good source? Are there better sources of carbs?

Perhaps something like this exists already, but if so I havn't found it. Nevertheless, this thread is meant to contain various inspirations: anecdotes, quotes, memes, motivational/demotivational posters, really whatever you'd like to share to help encourage others ranging form the most cliche to the most profound. Please feel free to share. “Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.†-Stephen Pressfield, The War of Art