Haloquin

DAILY CHECKLIST 31/1/21 [] Bodyweight training [/] Walk (2 miles) [/] Herbal activity (thyme for breathing) [/] Adventuress Prep (Welsh lang learning /podcast about creating and finishing projects) This podcast has a really inspiring idea right near the start. Anyone doing something creative is bound to have imposter syndrome because what we're doing has not been done before, so we *are* I posters, at least until it's finished. https://perell.com/podcast/seth-godin-writing-every-day/ And I'm up to lesson 4 of the Welsh classes, which is twice as far as I've gotten before, so that's really good.

DAILY CHECKLIST 30/1/21 [/] Bodyweight training (60s plank) [/] Walk (2 miles) [/] Herbal activity (ginger) [/] Adventuress Prep (Welsh lang learning /story plotting) Have the outline for the start of the tale... Involving amnesia and a new start, a mystery, a homecoming which isn't quite as it seems, and a touch of magic. (Edited because I forgot I actually did do a Bodyweight thing! Planking!)

DAILY CHECKLIST 29/1/21 [/] Bodyweight training (squats) [/] Walk (35minutes) [/] Herbal activity (ginger decoction testing) [/] Adventuress Prep (Welsh lang learning /story plotting)

DAILY CHECKLIST 28/1/21 [X] Bodyweight training [/] Walk (1 hour) [/] Herbal activity (peppermint) [/] Adventuress Prep (Welsh lang learning /character development)

DAILY CHECKLIST 27/1/21 I've been oversleeping but woke earlier than usual today, so that feels good. Been for a walk and there's FIRE soup for lunch! [X] Bodyweight training (rest day) [/] Walk (1 hour) [/] Herbal activity (testing ginger/buying supplies/learning about tinctures) [/] Adventuressing (researching crypto zoology & modern fairy sightings on podcast: http://www.thefolklorepodcast.com)

DAILY CHECKLIST 26/1/21 [] Bodyweight training (planking - 55s) [/] Walk (1 hour/3 miles) [/] Herbal activity (made firey things: decoction of ginger, ginger sweets, and red soup because... I'm missing the sunlight, basically.) [/] Adventuress Study (Welsh lang podcast) I'm using "Say Something In Welsh" to get my conversational Welsh off the ground. As I live in Wales it would help! (Plus: being bilingual is cool, in Britain, anyway.) And today's podcast (for cooking with) was on the book Lost Connections, about cultivating happiness, by two herbalists: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-witches-garden/cultivating-happiness-a4UvYi-6NGn/

DAILY CHECKLIST 25/1/21 💖 Santes Dwynwen's Day! 💖 [/] BW training (squats & arm rows) [/] Walk (2.5 miles, plus food shop) [/] Herbal activity (bought mint, ginger, & turmeric) [/] Adventuress Prep (podcast picked & character concept) Training podcast - rewilding https://paw.princeton.edu/podcast/pawcast-paul-wapner-91-reviving-connections-natural-world Walking podcast - Welsh language learning, and fairytales: https://paw.princeton.edu/podcast/pawcast-maria-tatar-71-scholarship-fairy-tales-and-folklore Character: "Lady" Foxy Quin Steampunk/fantasy/anthro (Loosely inspired by the character of Phryne Fisher... So my mp3 player shall now be called Phryne.) A were-fox ex-thief that got injured and came into some money at the same time. Doesn't like to talk about the details but it was probably nefarious. Is now trying to make good & see the world. Skills include card magic & cartomancy, rudimentary palmistry, lock picking... (All things to practice!) ~ Notes: feeling down so finding updating this helpful as a reminder I'm taking action.

AIM: To be strong enough for adventuring as soon as it's safe. And by adventuring I mean leaving this 5 mile stretch of coast and visiting friends & a museum or art gallery or something. GOALS: Core strength for travel, walking, & carrying luggage. (with partially healed chronic back problem.) Specifically: - can sit for 3 hours without spasming - can walk for an hour on easy terrain - can carry rucksack & kit in that time Mood Boosting: I'd like my magic back please. I've given myself permission to play with fun things without guilt this year, with the tag #diaryofanadventuress on twitter so I can share about it... I want to build a character for this. Just for fun: let's publish a novella. Why not? Then I can do a livingroom book tour for it. ACTION PLAN: Sooo... 1. Back to a basic bodyweight training. 2. Daily walking (min: a mile/20mins) 3. Research herbs for mood to add to soup. Then a soup recipe. Then make soup. 4. Find podcasts to listen to while I walk/train. For research! And to encourage walking. 5. Rename my mp3 player "Nevyn"? Gandalf? Another guru type name? Phryne. So I can learn from an adventuress. 6. Play with the Adventuress character and a backstory for her... Oh! And... 7. Make a plan for my trip, whenever it might come. Maps, itineraries, packing list... Finding all my travel gear again... Can't have an adventure without kit. Maybe if I make it a "performance artwork" and document it I'll keep at it? DAILY CHECKLIST [] Bodyweight training (exercise) [] Walk (time) [] Herbal activity (research/test/use) [] Adventuress Prep (podcast/backstory/trip planning)

RESPAWN POINT It's been a year. Both literally, a year since I last posted here. And in that, "well. It's been a year, y'know?" way. Anyway. Where am I starting now? BODY: Have put on weight, lost strength, and am starting to really feel ugh gain. Hard to even pace a cage when the cage is cramped well... I've been trying to escapism out of reality like I did as a child. Hmmm. MIND: Thesis got submitted & I'm waiting on the viva! Yay! I've been reading and writing fiction ever since! That feels good, tbh, though is a tad more sedentary than is ideal. SPIRIT: I think I'm getting depressed, actually. That's, not great. I had been avoiding admitting that. What now, I guess? I've just started an online basic herbalism course. Hmmm, ideas. ACTION PLAN: Look, the minute I'm allowed to flee, I'm going adventuring. Even a coach to the nearest city would do. It'd be good if I was strong enough to not end up in pain from the journey (#smallgoals). So taking some weight off my back and knees & strengthening my core... Good start. And utilising the new herbal knowledge in cooking for mood support would be good. Sooo... 1. Back to a basic bodyweight training. 2. Daily walking (there & back again??) 3. Research herbs for mood to add to soup. Then a soup recipe. Then make soup. 4. Find podcasts to listen to while I walk/train. For research! 5. Rename my mp3 player "Nevyn"? (K. Kerr's Deverry series). Oh! And make a plan for my trip, whenever it might come. Maps, itineraries, packing list... Finding all my travel gear again... Can't have an adventure without kit. *breathes* I can do this. I can.

I really want to know how this went!!! I've just started at an aerial/pole fitness class and my friend has a hoop up that I can use for practice on occasion. Really enjoying it but there is so much I can't do... Like pull myself up, bend in half, or cope with going upside down because I'm terrified! 😂 I'm having fun just playing about with poses in the hoop and trusting that the fear will fade with familiarity (and that the discomfort will lessen, ow my tailbone!) It seems like a playful way to build strength, flexibility, and confidence tbh. But yeah... How'd it go @WonderNatarella?

OK. So I got distracted. That's ok. Life update: PhD Deadline extended because of supervisory issues. Which, tbh, I'm glad of. I was not going to hit that deadline with any level of aplomb. NEW DEADLINE: June 30th. Annoyingly I've been instructed by the new supervisor to restructure all my material and shift my focus. THIS WILL BE BETTER, but damn it is a lot of work. It's fine though, I'm making a plan. (10 chapters, 6 months, a month for printing/binding/proofreading... = 5 months. = 2 weeks per chapter...) Recently went to an aerial hoop class! Much fun! And my partner has put up a hoop for me to practice on... so... win win. Which means I have the space and tools to do some serious strengthening. And a certain degree of obligation to do so... I have a car. I still can't drive. This needs to change because I'm currently paying for a vehicle I can't use. And given I'm working minimum wage, part time... yeah. Silly plan. Insurance is arranged up until April so. Driving by then or SORN/sell the car. So yeah. Next steps. January Goals: 1. Chapters 1 and 2 rewritten up at a submissable level. (Damnnnnnnn that's terrifying.) 2. Hoop practice/strength exercises bi-weekly. 3. Scope out a driving instructor. Ok. Ready, set... Go!

Well... I'm not going to make my target, partly because the travel this weekend (6 hours on coaches, each way) triggered back spasms causing sciatica to flare up and I had to stick to gentle movement instead of strength training... And partly because I'd not left wiggle room in order to manage my goal if an emergency hit... And I'm still recovering from the spasms. But I *did* do 8 strength based workouts over the last month (including a couple from before I started the challenges) so I'm actually going to count that side of it as a win, and the whole thing as information gathering! Ticking off boxes works for me for a little while, then they stop being exciting so... Maybe recording it as weekly targets rather than mapping it as a monthly chart would help. Keeping a variety of ways of engaging is important - I used the angry birds model one day, to get me moving, and the bed based exercises twice due to space restraints - so I've made myself a menu of options to choose from each training day for this next month rather than setting one for me to do. The exercises are more or less the same so I can track progress but my brain hasn't fully clocked onto that yet so I'm using perceived novelty as a motivator to keep building momentum! So I figure I failed that challenge, but am winning in general! May yet manage thesis related challenge #4 though too... I'll aim for one more exercise routine before the deadline... To protect my back I need to keep building core strength, and I'm determined to get flying... so...

And yay! Batch cooked! Challenge #2 : work out meal plan and shopping list and batch cook 3 times... Meal 1! Breakfast smoothies! (such a success I've done this twice now!) Meal 2! Rice/chickpea randomness salad! (Great for a cold lunch. Loaded it with Tuna and boiled eggs so it was full of protein, which really worked.) Meal 3! I preprepped baby potatoes and chopped green veggies while something else was cooking... And the next day I cooked roast salmon and veg, with potatoes, for dinner with enough for the following lunch too. Challenge #2: COMPLETE! It was good to get some variety too... Feeling a bit more inspired about mealtimes, so I'll be trying to keep up the momentum. Preprepping one day and then batch cooking the next seemed to work well, breaking the process down into stages that I can fit in while I'm doing something else is a good way to make it feel less overwhelming than taking a couple hours out to do it... Obviously this will take continued experimentation! My biggest takeaway? I like roast sprouts!!!

And yay! Batch cooked! Challenge #2 : work out meal plan and shopping list and batch cook 3 times... Challenge #2: COMPLETE! Full report here! My biggest takeaway? I like roast sprouts!!! And breaking it down into smaller stages is much better for me than trying to spend an afternoon cooking.

Aug-Sept Challenge... Challenge # 1 was to calorie track for 14 days... Complete! Progress report on the challenge thread