Search the Community

Spring is here, I have been outside in a t-shirt to prove it. I have a holiday in week 4 that I'm hellbent on spending in a tent somewhere, so an outdoorsy challenge sounds like just the job. Overall life-goal: Become a physically capable ecologist. Goal 1: Diet I'm bad at sticking to something for six weeks, so I'm taking a suggestion from LadyShello and Deftona and mixing it up this time for the food goal with three mini-goals, all revolving around removing unnecessary rubbish of some description, and increasing intake of good things. Weeks 1 and 2: Buy no food in plastic/metal/glass packaging whatsoever. So, loose freggies, and any loose nuts that I can stick in a paper bag. Food I already have in my cupboard right now is fine. A concession of two packs of pretend meat in week 2, but only if I've run out. Flour/sugar can be found in paper bags but I'm calling that cheating. Weeks 3 and 4: New plan! Iron Age Britain is too wheaty and meaty, really. So during week 3 and 4, I instead have to eat at least one meal a day with five natural colours in it. So, could be chilli with purple beans, red tomato, yellow peppers, green courgettes and, er, grey mushrooms. Or could be a fruit smoothie with yellow pineapple, orange... orange, green kiwi, red strawberry and white natural yoghurt. Five shades of yellowy-browny-beige don't count (sorry, four cheese pizza) unless they're freggies. Parsnip, yellow pepper, turnip, chickpea and mushroom curry would be fine. [Old Plan: Eat at least one meal a day that consists of food you'd have found in Iron Age Britain. Lots of research needed, which should be fun, but also guarantees there won't be nachos and there will probably be at least mushrooms. It's for fun, not experimental archaeology, so the modern varieties of freggies are allowed. And if I can cite a reference of it being found in Iron Age Britain, I can eat it. There was once an Irish king who was given a baboon as part of a trade deal, according to Time Team, so chances are I can eat the odd fig. Might even throw in some wild food since wild garlic's coming into season. It smells strongly of garlic. Oddly enough.] Weeks 5 and 6: Bring a homemade packed lunch to work every day that contains at least two portions of freggies. Sweet chilli sauce, avocado, mango and marinated tofu is much better than a sad supermarket sandwich. +3 Con for healthy eating, +2 Wis for learning new things Goal 2: Exercise Straightforward. Have to exercise at least three times a week, and it has to be outside. Could be walking to/from work, could be doing conservation volunteering, could be going for a hike. I love lifting, but I want to find a way to build up strength that also improves my stamina and my ability to lug bits of timber about up hills. Best way to do that is, I guess, to lug bits of timber about up hills. So signing up for conservation volunteering is a priority. I am excited for week 4, because I might even have the opportunity to swim outside. +2 Str, +2 Sta Goal 3: Self-Care A compound goal, breaking down into: - Drink at least a litre of water a day - No caffeine after 7pm - Take care of skin (put coconut oil on stretch marks 3x a week, face clean and moisturised every day, exfoliate once a week) +1 Cha for feeling more confident, +1 Con for feeling more capable. Life Goal: Lighten up the backpack Moving house in July; would rather have a lot less stuff. Would also rather have some more money from selling said stuff. - I have shelves of precious bookspace devoted to classics I've never read; they will be read and sold or unread and sold but sold they shall be, so I can put the rest of my Pratchett books somewhere I can see them. - I have a huge drawer full of papers from university. The sentimental-or-scientific-value ones (old assignments, journal article printoffs) will be scanned/kept, the rest are going out. Same for half-filled notebooks. - Craft projects: Some can be finished, others will be binned or unravelled. Some finished craft projects could be sold. Small crafting materials I keep since that's an investment. Large things like fabrics will either be used or sold. - Kitchen and homebrewing whatever: Make that beer. Drink that beer. Then decide whether it was worth it, and either go forth and make more beer or sell the flaming beer vat. Weed out silly kitchen things that take up space ad contribute nothing. I'm looking at you, boiled egg moulds. - Clothes: clothes. +4 Charisma for sheer ruthlessness; a whole 4 points because I find this hard. Not in a letting-things-go way, in a procrastination way, or not wanting to have wasted money. (Seriously though, Sarah, if you don't want to waste money, don't buy seven metres of tacky polyester satin in the first place.) Recording: Via HabitRPG; they're mostly did do/didn't do kinds of tasks. Weekly summaries as well. Prep: - Sign up for conservation volunteering - Make a list of the loose freggies in the supermarket - Find recipes that fit those freggies. - Tidy room so there is an organised place in which to rifle through things. - Freeze gym membership - DONE. Right, let's get cracking, then!