Chesire: The Book of Going Forth

[Chesire]

I'm continuing my efforts from my last challenge to become more myself again, also known as becoming purple.  In order to reach that end I need to feel more in control of my world.   I will seize control again!  And hopefully rediscover some of my darkness along the way.  Maybe I'll set up a goth metal workout playlist. 

 

I'm going forth with a refreshed attitude, ready to put in the effort and have fun too.

 

Using my handy challenge journal, planner, and financial journal, I will TRACK ALL THE THINGS!

 

 

Pretty basic stuff actually.

 

Fitness:

I will stretch consistently after exercise.  I will do GMB mobility work 3 days.

Strength training is a given at this point, as are walks.  If I can't do my running I will use darebee for HIIT

 

money:

I've never had an official budget.  That ends now.  I'll start by tracking all the money in and out while I do some reading about budgeting.

 

Food:

I plan to set up an iron-focused thread on here so I can easily revisit recipes that work for me.

Still, reducing alcohol, junk snacks, and meat.  Keeping the momentum on veg proteins, water, and planning.

 

My daily planner now has a daily to do list including; daily dare, DuoLingo, 20 min minimum cleaning, $ tracking, kitchen nightly clean, fitness, stretching.

 

Finally I will very soon be setting up a battle log for over-arching yearly goals.  Very soon.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

If you are a spreadsheet nerd building your own budget via spreadsheets can be fun.

When you said you were working on becoming purple, a decidedly non metal song came to mind:

 

[Chesire]

10 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

a decidedly non metal song came to mind:

still an awesome song.  I don't deny my goofy song interests!  But, curse you and your little ear worm too!

 

[Waanie]

Woah, you're making great progress from challenge to challenge . Are you tracking *all the things* on paper, or digitally?

[Tobbe]

👋

 

Here for the iron recipes 👩‍🍳

[Bean Sidhe]

Good luck. Going to follow along when I can.

[Chesire]

fleshed out plan incoming:

 

Fitness:

I will stretch consistently after exercise.  I will do GMB mobility work 3 days.

Strength training is a given at this point, as are walks.  If I can't do my running I will use darebee for HIIT

• Calisthenics strength work through School of Calisthenics MWF   still alternating the basic strength programs to work up to pull-up progression, frog stands, and fun show off tricks.  I will used their prescribed warm up and stretch work for each day.
• I only count dog walks here so I remember to count it when I look at my food for the day- usually 3 miles/day
• Running TThS or Darebee 30 day advanced HIIT if I don't want to go back out after ^
• GMB mobility T-neck/shoulders/back  Th-legs/hips/back S-full body/whatever is calling for attention

money:

I've never had an official budget.  That ends now.  I'll start by tracking all the money in and out while I do some reading about budgeting.

• Read You Need A Budget
• gather all the income/expenditure info.  This might hurt
• Discuss with MrC his/my/our goals and expectations
• reduce stress with a plan!

Food:

I plan to set up an iron-focused thread on here so I can easily revisit recipes that work for me.

Still, reducing alcohol, junk snacks, and meat.  Keeping the momentum on veg proteins, water, and planning.

 

• alcohol destroys my sleep and I seem to have a one is too many and two isn't enough issue.   So a real plan.  Have tea, except specific planned days.
• plan junk into meal planning.  When was the last time you ate so much junk you had a stomach ache in the middle of the night and wake up hungover?   Last Sunday was mine.  The holiday eating was rough in this house!  Getting back in line will be pretty easy.
• Get back into the swing of beans.  Explore TVP uses. 
• Enjoy good food.

[Chesire]

1 minute ago, Bean Sidhe said:

Going to follow along when I can

I could ask for nothing more than that.  Thank you

[Bean Sidhe]

 

4 minutes ago, Chesire said:

I could ask for nothing more than that.  Thank you

 

I am hoping to be around more this challenge. But I have said that the last couple, so I don't want to let anyone down if I am not here more.

You have a great plan set up. I am sure you will do great with it.

[Chesire]

Since I haven't set my full plan for a food thread yet, I'll drop a recipe or two here for saving.

 

Red beans (or black)  4 servings

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onions chopped
• 3cloves garlic minced
• 1 1/4 c (225gm) red kidney bean, dry
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1bay leaves
• 3cups water (enough to cover beans) or broth
• fresh lemon juice to taste
• fresh lime juice to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Rinse beans.  Place all ingredients oil through water in pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure, about 40 minutes.  Once pressure has released, check bean texture.  You may need to add on 5 more minute.
• add lemon juice,  lime juice, salt and pepper

 

200 calories

13g protein

17%iron (US RDA 40's women  estimates)

[Chesire]

And to go with the beans                                          Eat the beans and rice topped with tomatoes or salsa.   And an orange on the side! (because it complements well and vit C helps iron uptake)

 

Cilantro Lime rice   4 servings

 

• 1 cup long-grain white rice  (225g)
• ▢ Salt
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (or omit or sub parsley)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice from 1-2 limes

Cook the rice.  Stir in cilantro and lime juice.

175 calories

3.5 g protein

12% iron (2000 calorie estimates)

 

or I made it with wheat berries this time

153 calories

6g protein

8% iron US RDA 40s women

[Tobbe]

11 hours ago, Chesire said:

Red beans (or black)  4 servings

 

Sounds delicious! I'll be adding dry kidney beans to my shopping list.

We don't have a culture of "rice and beans". But I'm slowly getting my family onboard 🙂

[Chesire]

2 minutes ago, Tobbe said:

We don't have a culture of "rice and beans".

If you mix up the seasonings for your own tastes, let me know.  I'm always up for a flavor revamp.

[Waanie]

30 minutes ago, Chesire said:

If you mix up the seasonings for your own tastes, let me know.  I'm always up for a flavor revamp.

Often, I use a similar spice mix as you stated above, but with smoked paprika added to it, and a ton of tomato paste. Adding a bit of cacao or red wine is also nice .

[Tobbe]

Dark chocolate is a more luxurious alternative to cocoa that works well in chilies.  I guess it'd work here as well. Another option is instant coffee powder. 

 

I don't like neither coffee nor chocolate, but in a spicy chili they both work great

[Renate]

On 12/29/2020 at 11:59 PM, Chesire said:

iron-focused thread

 

Hey! Awesome idea!

 

12 hours ago, Chesire said:

12% iron (2000 calorie estimates)

 

Getting the right nutrients through food always seems like such a big task but it will work itself out

 

Ideally if you eat varied and lots of veggies and fruit you will get everything but I am trying this approach to feel like I am powering myself up 😊

 

Good luck with making a budget, too! All good goals, but there are what I have been thinking about as well lately

 

[Chesire]

35 minutes ago, Athena said:

Getting the right nutrients through food always seems like such a big task but it will work itself out

It's so overwhelming to start with, but chipping away at it little by little helps.  Also, when you work with real food, each thing covers so many areas that it makes it easier once you step back and look. 

 

[Bean Sidhe]

10 hours ago, Chesire said:

It's so overwhelming to start with, but chipping away at it little by little helps.  Also, when you work with real food, each thing covers so many areas that it makes it easier once you step back and look. 

 

 

I have hopes to get off a couple of my vitamins but seeing as a couple of my meds mess with my Potassium and Mg absorption, I may not get a choice. But I totally agree, the more you can get through actual food is a good idea.

[Vilkacis]

Not sure if you've heard of Ramit Sethi but his book I Will Teach You To Be Rich sounds very cheeky and on the nose, but it's actually a very good read and he has a lot of different ideas on spending and saving.  He's also on a lot of podcasts, such as Tim Ferriss, so if you prefer audio teachings, it's a good place to jump into him.  So to speak. 

[Chesire]

Going through the year's worth of credit card purchase categories has been interesting.  Since we did most of our shopping on one credit card I can almost see how we reacted and adapted to the year both in money and behavior.  Not a bad thing, just interesting.

[Waanie]

2 hours ago, Chesire said:

Going through the year's worth of credit card purchase categories has been interesting.  Since we did most of our shopping on one credit card I can almost see how we reacted and adapted to the year both in money and behavior.  Not a bad thing, just interesting.

Cool! This was also the year during which you stopped working, isn't it? How has your purchase behaviour change over the year?

[Chesire]

1 hour ago, Waanie said:

Cool! This was also the year during which you stopped working, isn't it? How has your purchase behaviour change over the year?

Correct about work.  Some changes were expected, like dining out way less and fewer frivolous or impulse purchases, for obvious reasons.  But seeing how we ventured out of the house more as time passed, ie frequency of trips to the grocery store.  Most surprising was how we reacted to the initial stress of "what the hell is going on" by increasing our alcohol significantly for about a month, and then seeing those purchases taper back down. 

 

From a budget point of view:  I started by estimating our expenditures for monthly planning based on my general feeling of our spending, as honestly as possible.  When I sat down and went through all the credit card purchases and bank account/household bills paid, it turned out I was pretty darn close on  most things!  My estimates for Pet expenses would have been closer if the cat hadn't needed dental surgery.  So, I learned I need to prepare more for an aging pet. 

[Chesire]

I credit this idea to a lovely person on FB.

 

My friend who had the Very Bad Year agreed to text at the end of every day with one good thing that happened that day!  After the holiday challenge of cataloguing things you are grateful for, I knew I would benefit from such a thing.   And I know she has been mired in exhaustion and stress, so even noting a really good coffee would help.   2 days down!

 

for those of you curious, one of my mine was laughing so hard I almost couldn't stay up at my dog doing an ick ick ick walk through slush because she is a princess about squishy toes.

[Waanie]

19 hours ago, Chesire said:

When I sat down and went through all the credit card purchases and bank account/household bills paid, it turned out I was pretty darn close on  most things! 

Great! I always think it's such a good feeling when I estimate costs correctly .

 

5 minutes ago, Chesire said:

My friend who had the Very Bad Year agreed to text at the end of every day with one good thing that happened that day!  After the holiday challenge of cataloguing things you are grateful for, I knew I would benefit from such a thing.   And I know she has been mired in exhaustion and stress, so even noting a really good coffee would help.   2 days down!

This is great, good luck!

[Chesire]

On 12/30/2020 at 11:00 AM, Waanie said:

Woah, you're making great progress from challenge to challenge . Are you tracking *all the things* on paper, or digitally?

apparently I missed your post!  Thanks!  Personally the progress feels largely mental, which of course has impact everywhere else.

 

All The Things! are tracked on paper.  It feels more real for me when I write it down.  That might be my age showing   Also it's faster for me to flip open a book, rather than be sucked into the bottomless pit of the internet!

 

I had to swing in to this page because I had totally forgotten to write down my challenge plan in my nifty challenge journal.  LMAO oops.