FINAL SUMMARY! REBELS..... REPORT!!!! :)

[spezzy]

And so the next challenge comes to an end!

How'd you do?

Please give yourself a grade on how you did and tell us why!

If you didn't do so well, what can you do to make it better next time?

The next challenge starts next Monday, July 18th! Signup sheet will be posted shortly

[Kain]

This was my FIRST challenge and I enjoyed a lot. The thing is, I learned a lot about myself and what I wanted my goals to be. They shifted somewhat which adversely affected my results but also I think improved my overall life-style

Starting weight: 212lbs

Fastest mile: 7:56

Fitness:

Run a 7:30 mile - Grade F. Never even tried to find my fastest mile. I was going to use my "old" running shoes to do it but honestly I find it hard to run in anything but VFF's anymore.

Continue with Insanity workouts and complete the "Fit Test" with greater scores Grade B+

Final Fit Test scores followed by my improvement from the first fit test. Honestly I could have done better but I was slightly hung-over when I did my final fit test on Sunday. But again, no excuses so those are my scores. These are "do as many as possible in a minute with either 30 second break or 1 minute break".

Switch Kicks - 135 +35

Power Jacks - 40 +9

Power Knees - 79 +21

Power Jumps - 30 +10

Globe Jumps - 6 +4

Suicide Jumps - 13 +3

Pushup Jacks - 24 +4

Low-Plank Obliques - 32 +28

Drop below the 200lb mark - C- My weight did some funny things. I dropped down to 203 unhealthily for my competition and then went on vacation the following week. I also started drinking more so that hurt me too. I weighed in at 209 today. I have been focusing this past week or two more on eating FULL healthy meals and have been building muscle. I still want to get below 200lbs in the future though.

Win Biggest Loser challenge at work and donate money to Japan - A+

I won! I donated my money to Japan the same day I found out. WOOT

Finish a 5k with my Vibram Five Fingers A+

Finished my 5k and even though my calves were sore a few days later I enjoyed every minute of it.

Diet C

Mostly Paleo, not interested in counting calories

Drink only once a week, if at all

No grain at all

More fresh fruit/veggies

I gave my "Diet" a C because I felt that I held fairly true to this. I didn't ever have a single slice of bread. I had some grain via chips or an occasional energy bar. I have eaten more fruits and veggies. However, I failed completely at the "once a week drink". Ugh.

Level Up

Return to Mt. Hebo and get to the top (was restricted due to snowfall April 30th) A

Returned and conquered! Booya. (Have a much bigger mountain/volcano in mind for the next challenge. Details soon

Work on budget - Save approx $200/month C

Kind of shot the budget on my trip to California. With that said, I recently took measures to lower monthly costs by shopping around for internet and cable/satellite TV. I plan to give further details to minimize cost in my next challenge

Beat FF4 without sacrificing workout time or sleep F

Just straight up failed on this one. I decided part way through that I wanted to start reading again. I haven't read a book in 8 years it seems like. All in all I think that reading was a healthier decision and I did manage to finish Ender's Game.

Overall C+

I loved being held accountable and making positive changes in my life. I have come to grips that there is just not a lot of budging room in my life and diet for drinking and eating. My next challenge I will improve greatly and hopefully have some ABS poking through. I have been eating a lot more healthier items lately and of course am still drinking a ton of water. Overall I am not too disappointed with myself.

I think my mentality is a lot different going into this next challenge. Hopefully I will continue to inspire others as well. Final Picture update...

Before:

After:

[Gathris]

This was my first challange and I haven't done very well.

Diet - C - Could have had better goals (I gave myself too much wiggle room) and I had a few snacks during the week (especially during the last week).

Fitness - D - Never managed the 6 workouts a week and due to sickness last week was a bust. Weather scuppered my plans to cycle to the train station.

Life - D - Got rid of a few things that I don't use any more but that was about it. Looking back I spent too much time playing games.

Next time

- Better diet goals

- Sort out my sleeping pattern (with the heat and having the window open the morning chorus is wakeing me up too early) so I can get up to exercise.

- I have more of a plan for what I do when I get home from work so I don't slack off soo much.

I am not completly dishartoned but my enthuesasm did wayne about half way through.

[theanne]

My final stats are:

5'7"

159lbs

Waist: 29in

Abs: 34in

Hips: 39in (no change)

DIET:

• Adhere to paleo a little more closely by limiting my bread to only 1-2 times per week (bread has been my weakness... darn delicious sandwiches and pizza!)

  Grade: C

  Meeting the goal would have been 5% bread during the week, I ended up closer to 11% most weeks.

• Stick to my macronutrients 100% on weekdays (slack given on weekends for sanity and refeed)

• Calories 1245-1345
• Fat 50-60g
• Protein 120-130g
• Carbs 65-68g

Grade: B+

I stuck to these for the most part with some pretty reasonable exceptions. I also accomplished my goal with this - having a good idea of what I need to eat and what I actually eat. I recalculated my macros shortly after the beginning of the challenge.

FITNESS:

• Lose 12 pounds of fat while maintaining strength (maybe even gaining? is this possible? probably not with my macros...)

  Grade: A

  I'm not sure whether I lost this much fat, my overall weight loss was 8lbs and I did gain some strength during this challenge. I think that I probably got close.

• Alternative measurement of fat loss: lose 3-4 inches around abdominals

  Grade: A

  Lost 3 inches around my abs. WIN.

• Run 5 miles with minimum breaks (currently can run 2 miles no breaks)

  Grade: No credit

  I didn't do a lot of running. That said my trainer told me in the last couple weeks she was sure I could do a 5 mile run, it was just a matter of doing it. So... I'm not failing myself here, just doing a no credit for not finding the time to do it.

• Be able to complete a full no-knees chest-to-the-floor pushup

  Grade: F

  I still can't do one of these. Mostly because I didn't focus on pushups like I should have for this part of the challenge. I did progress to being able to do all the way to the floor knee pushups.

• Stick to my fitness schedule, no excuses!

• Mondays - Sprints
• Tuesdays - HIIT
• Wednesdays - Weight Training/Cardio
• Thursday - Off
• Fridays - Weight Training/Cardio
• Saturdays - Off
• Sundays - 4+ mile hike

Grade: C

I kind of fell off of doing my home workouts halfway through due to a lot of schedule changes and emergencies at the house. I always did the hikes, and I always did the weight training/cardio with my trainer. The sprints and HIIT are mostly what suffered.

LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE:

• Finish paying off credit card (just getting out of 10k debt, whoo!)

  Grade: A

  I am officially out of credit card debt.

• Pay extra $1,000 towards car loan

  Grade: A

  Done!

• Do 1 freelance web design job for a higher rate than I have done before

  Grade: A++ (from extra credit)

  The goal of this challenge was to find WIN in personal projects.

  While I didn't land a web design job specifically, I put in a lot of effort towards consulting, as well as the OMFG app which is now going official. I spent 1+ hour every workday morning to focus on my personal projects for the last several weeks and well over 35 hours on the OMFG app.

Here's a before/after... not as drastic as I'd like but hey... there's some difference.

[Martinpanduh]

Looking good Kain and theanne! Your progress is inspiring! I could totally see the difference in both of you. Congratulations!

I posted my summary in my thread, no need to repost. I had an okay challenge, with no specific goals at the start I can't exactly map out my progress (nor could I achieve them, blindly) but in a nutshell. I lost a hard inch on my waist! From 40 to 39--my chest is still at 41 but I'll take it! Ending numbers are: 250lbs + bar 5x5 Squat, 140lbs + bar 5x5 Chest Press, 85lbs + bar Overhead Press, 250lbs + bar Deadlift, 55lbs + bar bicep curl and 105lbs + bar Bentover Row. Managed to reclaim my running stamina to sustain a 10kph run for 20 minutes. Feeling fit and good about these numbers, but my weightloss could have been better if I managed my diet more strictly. Epic fail on that one. Ending grade: a solid B.

Looking forward to the next challenge! I'll see you guys there. Congrats to the entire Nerd Fitness community!

[citabean]

Overall, I think I did fairly well on this challenge.

Eating Goals: A

- 95% Paleo, met without issue.

- Fruit 1x a day, met via average.

- Dairy 2x a week, it got better over the course of the challenge

Exercise Goals: B-

- RSG Dumbbell Workouts 4x a week, done.

- 2 hours of cardio, I think I fell short week 4 but the rest I blew past the 2 hours.

Life Goals: A

- Basement Tiles, done

- Explore new places, done... they may have not been "pay for these places" but they were new to me.

- Budget, I got myself set up on mint.com and started working towards a budget and separating finances.

Stats:

- I lost 7 pounds and around 10 inches overall.

Overall challenge grade? B+

Why a B+, because I didn't exercise... at... all during week 6.

[bloodlesscoup]

So, here were my goals, and the subsequent results on each of them.

1) In the course of six weeks, I would like to lose 12 pounds: Starting this challenge at 240, I finished at 234. A pound a week is nothing to scoff at, but I think I could have been a lot better. 50% is an F in regular life, but I think this puts me at about a C, because a real failure would have been no loss at all.

2) I wish to run my first 5k, but kind of not just run a 5k like I run at the Rec Center at PSU, but I would like to run one outside before I join in a 5k happening here in Portland on June 25th. So, my goal is to run at least 3 5ks by the end of this challenge, two of which will be outside. AT MINIMUM. I ran four 5ks, none of which were outside due to falling very sick with a cold about halfway through the challenge. I know that had I not been sick, I would have run outside. I haven't run one since getting sick, since my endurance took a big hit, so, this was kind of discouraging. But, due to the progress that I was making prior to getting sick, and that I ran one more than I thought I would, albeit inside, I'm giving myself an A on this one.

3) I will attempt to have no more than one meal per week at a restaurant or PDX food cart or what have you. Homemade for the win! And, as the term ends for me next week, I will have far fewer obligations which eat up my time that would prevent me from cooking and preparing quick, healthy meals. Turns out having a social life makes this hard! But, while I was at work, I ate out on average less than once per week. Then, a few social engagements happened, so I ended up eating out for the duration of this challenge on an average of 1.5 times per week. I'll give myself a B, not for eating more than I thought I would, but for kind of failing at an estimate for the start of the challenge.

So, I give myself an average of a B (if I weighted all of my goals equally), but it kind of feels like it ought to be a B- in some respects. This was my first challenge, and it was good for me to see what I can stick to, what expectations I really ought to have, and what to do differently for the future. Onward!

[Seabright]

Fitness:

Goal - Walk or Walk/Run 3 x per week, gradually increasing distance.

Results - Meh. I changed this a few days into the challenge to be less of a focus, as I realized how much I dislike running and that serious 10K training was going to be taking away from body weight training and riding. Still, even with that change, I pretty much bailed on the off-day walking. Although, you know, I thought about how I wasn't doing it all the time.

Grade - Fail

Goal - Body Weight Brigade Workouts (RSG) 2 x per week. Will be easing off of the squats/lunges in response to increased walking/running.

Results - went back to 3 x per week, 'cause I just love this stuff. Went back to doing lots of squats and lunges, too.

Grade - A

Goal:

- Build up to 4 sets of 10 25 lb one-arm rows by end of challenge.

- Build up to 4 sets of 15 regular push-ups by end of challenge.

- Build up to 4 sets of 10 close-hand push-ups by end of challenge.

Results:

- 4 x 13 one-arm rows @ 22.5 pounds. Still, very thrilled with progress!

- 4 x 14 regular push-ups. So close! Very happy, though. That's 56 push-ups!

- 4 x 10 close-hand push-ups. Hey, I did it! They aren't particular pretty, but getting there!

Grade:

I'm going to give myself an A- for Almost Awesome, even though I technically missed it a bit, just because I made steady progress every time out. So thrilled to keep moving forward!

Diet:

Stayed Paleo the whole time, except for the recorded cookie massacre. Very comfortable with this way of eating. A

Life:

Goal - Select 30 songs to work on for eventual 2-set duet show with husband. (Long-term related goal: CD and gigs.)

Results - Songs selected! This is huge for us, as we usually just sit around drinking wine talking about how we should really do something someday. Between now and next challenge I'm going to work on a plan on where to go from here.

Grade - A - woo hoo!

Goal - Practice either bass (slaps and scales) or guitar (flat-picking) 15 minutes, 3 times per week.

Results - Er, well, not so much. After first 8 days, just didn't really happen. Need to do better next time! Am now psyched to start working with strings actually designed for the purpose, though.

Grade - Fail

Goal - Do my freakin' vocal exercises 5 times per week (week days).

Results - Did these about 1/2 the time. Never did at home, but snuck in every time I had a solo drive somewhere. This is still more than I was doing before, though, so that's good. Need to work on this one.

Grade - C+

Goal - Be able to do 180 degree turn-backs against the fence up to speed, fearlessly. No holding on to the horn!

Results - Yes! Done! Not only did I did these 'dry', I added cows into the mix. Not just yer jerseys, but some seriously twisty roping cattle. Getting braver with every Body Weight Brigade workout!

Grade - A+

Other stuff:

Weight - no change

Body Fat - went from 19.4% to a bit north of 17.3%

Waist - 27" (about the same. damn you, chocolate cookies and beer!)

Hip - 36" (down! woo hoo!)

Upper right thigh - 22 1/8" (down a tad!)

Upper right arm - 11 3/4" (down a tad!)

All in all, very happy with progress on all fronts except the practicing. Between now and the next challenge, will work on getting to my original goals in the BWB workouts, and crafting a where-to-go-from-here plan on the songs-for-the-CD-project. Will also work on using fewer hyphens. Har har.

Feeling good and looking forward to the next challenge. For the Rebellion!

[deadmetal]

The goal with this challenge was pretty much to get me off my ass and doing /something/ which it appears to have done. Still, didn't get everything done that I'd have liked.

Diet And Or Fitness

- Log everything I eat, every day. - Grade C+

Why a C+? Because, quite simply, although I did log everything, it usually wasn't on the day it was consumed. Need to work on that.

- Hold a freakin' plank for 20 seconds, goddamn. - Grade A

Another simple one - my target was 20 seconds, and I managed to get it up to 23. Woooo.

- Miss no workouts. No excuses. - Grade D

As good as I was doing, I just didn't work out yesterday. Missed one workout, no excuses forthcoming.

Life, The Universe, Everything

- Read one book each week. - Grade C

This should have been the easiest one to do, but I've let it go slack the last week. I only got about a chapter into The Naked Sun, still need to read the rest.

- Get to a second date. - Grade A

Suffice to say this was successful. I have no idea where it's going from here, but it's a start, right?

[Anivair]

Okay, so here was the challenge I laid out before myself:

Diet: Whole 30 paleo challenge

Fitness: Get my deadlift above 300 and my squat above 200, plus rehab my shoulder and start Starting Strength

Life: get my ACT certification test done

So, how did I do?

Diet: I'm giving myself an A+. I did the hell out of the whole 30. In the whole 30 days, the only thing I had that was not 100% on the list was a single bite of wedding cake (because I wanted to tell them what I thought of their cake). Everything else was 100% Whole30 Compliant and honestly, i felt great . it was a little hard to stick with, for sure, but only at places where I didn't like the taste of the tea or water or whatever. Did I have cravings? of course. I just didn't give into them.

Fitness: Deadlift is not at about 320. Squat is 235 (though it dropped after I finished the whole 30, but is still 215). Shoulder is rehabbed and Starting Strength is in process. I'm loving it. A+

Life: Sadly, I've not taken the test yet. The book is denser than i thought, so I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. I call that a D. Sad Joe. that said, my first (non-wife) test client (a friend who is really overweight and in need oh help) just lost about 30 pounds in 5 weeks with the program I put him on and he's doing well, so I'll call that a move in the right direction.

Total: Still a B+. I'll take it and next challenge, I will kick this Certification's ass.

[67alecto]

My 6-week goals were made knowing I'd be on vacation for 2 weeks.

FITNESS:

Bike 200 miles A+. I accomplished this with 7 days to spare, and finished with a total of 231.25 miles done. Next challenge will be more aggressive.

Continue my tabata strength program. B. I did it, but I could have done it more. I definitely was focusing on longer bike rides at the expense of this.

LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE:

Upgrade my Jeep. I want to install a locking storage box and a trailer hitch to start...and a bike rack will be in the future. A. Storage box and trailer hitch are on, bike rack has been ordered.

Bonus:

Bike: Along the way, I repaired a tire, tightened up my derailleur cable for better shifting, and adjusted my brakes. In the past, I would have paid someone to do this.

Jeep: Coming back from vacation, I knew I had to upgrade my lights. I installed silverstar headlights and foglights for much brighter night driving.

Overall grade: A-

[Crooked]

My (overly wordy) full report is over on my challenge thread, but this is a revised version of the summary I wrote at the end:

Challenge score: B+

I scored my challenge like a report card - 4.0 for big successes, 0.0 for a big fat failure to complete three MWODs per week and in the middle (2.0 and 3.0) for other things. It came out to a 3.28, or a solid B+ (which is, incidentally, a grade that is very familiar to me). What was most interesting for me about this challenge was how aggressively I tackled some of the flashier challenges - Crossfit, diet, lifting, etc. - while I let the ones that should help to maximize my health slide. Sleep, MWODs and yoga are not necessarily going to lead immediately to strength gains, but those kinds of goals are also really important, and I'm disappointed I wasn't more committed to them. I'm already thinking about the next challenge and figuring out how to work toward both the sexy and the less sexy goals in tandem. Overall, I'm very pleased with the way this challenge went, and I'm thrilled that there will be another one so soon!

[gr4nt]

Fitness:

Add 10 lbs to my Overhead Press (at 135# right now) Added 5#s to overhead, so got a new PR but didn't PR as much as I wish I had

Finally get a muscle-up Got it!

Get my 1-mile time below the 6-minute mark Haven't actually touched this one since right before the challenge. Gym just started a psuedo-Endurance program, so maybe I'll try to follow it up on the next challenge

Diet:

Keep on the Paleo/Primal Blueprint gig, maybe tighten it up a bit Did pretty good on this

Cut 1% bodyfat, because if I'm going to be skinny I should at least not have to worry about looking like a muffin top Real disappointed at this one. Ate all types of clean and worked out constantly, still barely cut 1/2%. But, this has already helped me figure out a goal for the next challenge

Reduce alcohol intake Besides 4th of July, I think I had less than two drinks/week

Life:

Once again, quit boozin' it up so much See above

Start budgeting better so I can afford kooky-adventures Doing good on this

Write 5,000 words a week so I don't have to listen to my friends nag me about how I should write a book Gigantic failure in this realm. Think I got about 7,500 for the whole six weeks

An extra Life goal is to finish up these Beginner Irish language courses. Actually forgot I was even doing this

So had some good successes in some areas, partials in others, and dismal failures in others. I think my fitness goals were too all over the place. They were too specific and dealing with three different aspects of fitness. It also doesn't help that this Vegas heat isn't conducive to running workouts right now.

But oh well, this was my first challenge and I think I learned a lot along the way that will help me out on the next go around.

[prefect42]

Challenge Summary

Goal 1: Strength train 3-4 times a week -- Grade: C-

Only met this goal 2 out of 6 weeks, with a grand total of 10 lifting days out of a target range of 18-24.

Goal 2: Conditioning at least 2 times a week -- Grade: A-

I only technically met this goal 2 out of 6 weeks, but by the end of the challenge, I'd had 12 conditioning workouts for an average of 2 per week.

Goal 3: Read 3 books by the challenge's end -- Grade: A

3 books down; 914 pages total.

Goal 4: Be a better rebel -- Grade: B+

I've definitely had more of a presence around here, though I need to remember during Challenges that there is life outside the Challenge forum.

Overall Grade: C

Technically, it should probably be closer to a B+, but I am majorly weighting my strength goal because that's always been my primary focus. Well, it should be my primary focus, but clearly isn't if I am falling as short as I did this challenge.

Lifting Details

Pounds Added to Lifts

Squats: 5x5 max: 135lbs (+40lbs)

Bench Press: 5x5 max: 110lbs (+5lbs)

Overhead Press: 5x5 max: 75lbs (+10lbs)

Deadlift: 2x5 max: 190lbs (+30lbs)

Barbell Row: 5x5 max: 85lbs (+10lbs)

Considering that my squats and overhead press levels are pretty much exactly where I was before held off heavy lifting for a couple months, this is a pretty poor showing. I really need to be busting my ass more on this.

[afflictionreckoning]

A lot of you guys are being pretty hard on yourselves, but from what I've read on the forums you have all come a really long way. I hope you're all proud just because you put yourself out there for the challenge. It is so much more than most people do. Congrats to all of you on making it through. I joined NF too late to join this challenge, but I'm hoping to join all of you on the next one starting soon! You have all inspired me very much and I can't wait to put myself out their with you! Thanks for everything!

[Jax_BabyJeep]

Recap of 6 weeks: C I think for total

Fitness:

•RSG BW rank one (take two!) - C, not as good as I would have liked this round. One week out due to hip, and this last week - honestly life kinda kept me busy. Must learn balance

•Walking, biking or swimming etc 2x a week - D, I learned a new sport, paddle boarding - and went diving - but not nearly as often as I wanted to

•Get to 190 lbs, currently 200 - A, 189.5!

•Attend at least 1 zumba class in the gym - F, no zumba...

Diet:

•Continue on my Paleo/Primal-ish path - A, feeling great about food choices!

•Track daily food & water intake, exercise & BP - A, still tracking

•Add to my recipe box only paleo or primal recipes - F, crap, totally forgot about this...

•Try new food(s): 1 new food = C, 2 new foods = B, 3 new foods = A - C? - I created a sushi roll without rice?

Life:

•Make a 97.5% quality or better on my first month review - N/A - turns out my first review was done, but not scored since our first 30 days was training.. doh!

•Self proclaimed pack rat - I need to unload AT LEAST two bags out of my possession. - A+! Unloaded 6 bags of items to the Salvation Army, 4 bags of clothes and 2 bags of misc.

•Upgrade the Jeep - in talks with friends for a 4 inch lift (she has a 2") and 33" tires (currently on 29s.. lol) - time to stop talking and get it done! - C, tires are bought and in friends garage. In talks about the lift but not yet purchased.

Measurements and Weight:

yes so down to 189.5 - woot AND lost another 9.5 inches!

[Wolfman]

I'd give myself a solid C in this challenge, if I'm grading on the whole "did I actually do what I set out to do in the beginning" metric, BUT this challenge was a total success for me in ways that I never ever would have thought. While I can't give myself a great grade for my goal followthrough, I wouldn't change a thing. I learned so much about myself in the last six weeks that I'm almost overwhelmed. I changed my eating goals, I changed my strength goals, and I'm attempting to change some bad mental habits that I didn't even know that I had. I can't wait to start the next challenge with all this momentum in my favor! I can't even begin to express how important my fellow rebels have been in my journey and how thankful I am to all of you to inspiring me and offering your support!

(All weights in pounds)

Bodyweight: 147 to ~142

Front Squat: 85 to 115

Overhead Press: 75 to 95

Deadlift: 95 to 145

Bench Press: 85 to 135

Pendlay Row: NA to 95

Pull-Ups: 2.5 to 4

[tasty`]

this challenge started off swimmingly, but then murder week in my family started. three birthdays and a vacation in a span of two weeks. needless to say my willpower broke down and i ate like an idiot and did nothing worthwhile.

havent called out from work but for once. A-

200 pushups a week- D-

80% paleo- C for the first 3 1/2 weeks i was good. last two and a half badddd

write everyday- D+ i wrote a pitiful few times, but I did think of an idea for a writing project that I plan on starting/launching on my birthday so not all bad.

weight: 282.

I ended up losing 3lbs but that is a dissapointment in the end, because of the good start to this challenge. I an dissapoint in myself.

Overall C-

[Loren Wade]

I may not know all of you all... but man, all of these accomplishments makes me proud to be a part of this community. Bring on the next challenge. I'm on it.

[Lasombra]

I agree, LW. This is getting me pumped for next week!

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

All right, so my recap. I really liked focusing on barbell training, but I did not make as much progress as I would have liked. This was due to the two tattoo sessions that I knew would be forcing me to take the next week off each time. I did make a lot of progress on it, however, and I look forward to next challenge when I do not have these breaks in progress. I will give myself a B, as I knew that there would be issues and accounted for them.

As far as playing music, I started off great, but fell off a bit as the challenge progressed. I did listen to a lot of music this challenge, and acquired some great CDs, but I don't think it counted. I also acquired an upright bass the day after the challenge ended, so I look forward to adding this to next challenge. I give myself a C on this one.

So, B-/C+ for this challenge.

[Seabright]

I also acquired an upright bass the day after the challenge ended, so I look forward to adding this to next challenge.

O CapN my CapN! You can strap it to your back to give more oomph to your push-ups.

[CharlieChop]

DIET: Currently - Slow Carb

*Follow Tim Ferriss' recent suggestion of 30g of protein in the first 30 minutes of waking up.

Grade: C-

Assessment:Didn't focus as much on the numbers. This is usually the easiest meal for me to follow Slow Carb. During this time I transitioned from morning exercise into evening sessions. Wound up waking up later and just went autopilot most mornings.

FITNESS:

*Regularly run 3 miles barefoot.

*Do 10 consecutive pull ups. (Currently at 2)

Grade: C

Assessment: I finished Born to run during this time frame. I just took it easy and enjoyed runs in my Vibrams. I let myself get swept up in the beauty of what was around me. I did make sure to take at least two new paths each week. I have gotten myself up to 5 consecutive pullups. No real excuse aside from just not being diligent.

LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE:

*Cut weekly discretionary spending from $100 to 50 and put the difference in savings.

*Embrace being a 1 car couple and get over the death of my car.

Grade: A

Assessment: This section is where I did excel. My roommate and I have been carpooling to the office regularly. My girlfriend and I have been doing really well with a single car, cut the gas expense in half. During this time we also took a road trip to Tennessee to go to the Bonnaroo music festival. I've also saved a lot in car insurance (Thanks, Geico).

Been doing really well with keeping the discretionary spending at $50. We've been more selective on the activities we actually go out to do. Then find good things to do at home. We've gone through several puzzles. I have also used a bonus I received along with the savings to establish my $1000 emergency fund.

[nicolakgreen]

Overall I am calling this challenge a C and looking forward to the next one. I think I can do better.

FITNESS

1. Stamina - didn't do this at all - F

2. Strength - I really enjoyed the course, but can't justify the price of a gym right now so haven't continued. Took a couple of weeks off after the course finished, but then got back into doing the primal movements every other day for the last week and a bit of the challenge. Calling this bit a B

3. Flexibility - Yoga. Nope, didn't do this either. F

BODY

Wales we did sea kayaking, canooeing, coasteering and surfing - coasteering was the biggest hit - loved it. A

After a rocky start I kicked the multiple biscuit/chocolate bar habit and am back to them being treats rather than staples. B

Asleep before 11 five or six nights a week which is a great start. A

LIFE

Still figuring out the new plan - C.

Spoke to the tattoo place and have a plan to get it done after the PADI course finishes - B.

PADI Open Water diver certification booked - starting next Thursday - B.

[zielperson]

Overall, I would rate myself a B-

Did well on the life goal (promotion), but only OK on fitness.

I did loose some weight, though and I started with Kettlebell training.

::zielperson::