Stealthstitcher has Adventures: Now with 34% More Art!!!

[stealthstitcher]

This story is not about him.

 

For most of my life, I waited for Gandalf to show up. Not literally, although that would be cool, too. Most of the time life was fine; things were comfortable, I had no real complaints. But some days I'd sigh and wail and wonder why Gandalf never came to my door to say, "Here's an adventure, off you go." Then one day it occurred to me. What if I'm not Bilbo? What if ... I AM GANDALF?!?

What if all along, I've been living this hobbity life and the whole time I'm really a meddlesome wizard instead? And I just never knew it? (You'd think I would notice; hitting my head on the ceiling, all the chairs are too small ...) 

So this challenge will be about this Adventurer finally getting her teeth into some adventures.

 

Goal 1: The Financial Adventure

So I looked at my list of things I want to do (see previous challenge) and the obstacle I kept running into over and over is, "This costs money, which I don't have." Finish the remodeling? Money. Classes/lessons of any kind? Money. Things that require equipment? Money. Things that require travel? Money. Things that require classes, equipment, and travel? You guess it, money again. And I don't have cable, buy daily lattes, get manicures - any of the things people suggest you cut out to save money. My budget's pretty tight. However, I do have a habit of impulse purchasing things that aren't stupid but I don't necessarily need right now. And if I didn't have any credit card debt, I'd have money for more exciting things. The plan here is threefold:

1. Stick to the monthly budget. I'm going to try the cash-in-envelopes system. When the cash is gone, nothing more can be purchased. 

2. Save what's left. At the end of the month, if anything remains, it goes into savings to guard against emergencies so I don't have to charge unexpected expenses. (If I manage to stay on budget, there should be some money left at the end of the month.)

3. Pay down debt. I get side jobs from time to time. The money from these will be split in half. Half can be spent on non-essentials (paint for the remodeling, yoga class, books I really want, etc.). The other half goes to pay down the credit cards. 

 

Goal 2: The Cooking Adventure

One thing you don't want on an adventure is a lot of extra, unnecessary stuff. Everything I've read about backcountry hikes says that 35 pounds is the absolute upper maximum amount you want to carry. Well, I'm already hauling 60 extra pounds with me every day. Eating cleaner has helped, but I think I've gone as far as I can with that alone. The time has come for ... calorie counting. (Insert ominous music here). I decided to take the hassle out of it by planning four weeks ahead, figuring out the calories in each meal. Each week, I'll pre-prep 4 servings each of 3 different meals. And just to be adventurous, I'll be trying many new recipes. I'm going with a "mostly Paleo but not obsessing about it" theme. I got a kitchen scale in order to be sure I'm getting the correct portion sizes. This week will look something like this:

Breakfast: Eggs and any vegetable (but probably broccoli), and a banana for approximately 400 calories

Meal Option 1: Meatball stew (my own recipe), sauerkraut, and an apple, 398 calories

Meal Option 2: Thai chicken zoodle salad (NomNomPaleo) and strawberries, 416 calories

Meal Option 3: Spicy tuna cakes (NomNomPaleo again), brussels sprouts, and an orange, 388 calories

I also have a list of healthy/reasonably healthy 100 calorie snacks, from which I can pick two a day. This should put me at around 1400 calories a day, but I'll allow up to 1500. I'll also have two "free" meals a week - they still need to fit the calorie plan, but don't have to be prepped ahead of time so I can have what I'm in the mood for. I also have a couple of different breakfast options in case I get tired of eggs and broccoli. 

 

Goal 3: The Adventure Adventure

There are a few things on my list that require little to no money. I'll start with those. 

1. Cartwheels! I always wanted to do a cartwheel, but being an unathletic child with overprotective parents who were terrified I was going to hurt myself, I never managed to do one. The first step, it seems, is a handstand. So I'm going to follow the plan in Steve's post (https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/10/24/how-to-handstand-better-than-luke-skywalker/) and add five minutes of handstand practice to my daily workout. 

2. Walk the Parks - Last summer/fall I went on Park Quests to all the local city parks. Now I'll be expanding to the state. This challenge I want to walk all 20 miles of trails at the nearest state park. The park is only about 20 minutes away, and I can get an annual parks pass for $50 or I can go twice and pay the $7 entrance fee for a mere $14 - the parks pass is the better value, but it will depend on my budget. 

 

Bonus Goal: The Art and Character Adventure

Bet you were wondering where that 34% more art was, weren't you? I want to have more fun with my Stealthstitcher character, and since I have to draw for work I hardly ever get around to drawing for fun. I'm going to combine the two and at least once a week, do some challenge/character related drawing. I've got ideas; I just have to sit down with my pencils and paper and get to it. I also want to complete my character sheet with my epic quest checklist.

[Sylvaa]

Yay for more adventure!

 

FWIW, I was pretty awesome at a cartwheel in my time without being able to do a handstand, so I don't believe that is actually a prerequisite. 

[stealthstitcher]

22 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

 

FWIW, I was pretty awesome at a cartwheel in my time without being able to do a handstand, so I don't believe that is actually a prerequisite. 

Wait, are you telling me the internet could be ... wrong?!?

 

 

[Sylvaa]

5 minutes ago, stealthstitcher said:

Wait, are you telling me the internet could be ... wrong?!?

 

 

 

That is exactly what I am saying! kind of.....

 

You need to be strong enough to hold your bodyweight, however in a cartwheel, you've got momentum on your side. So if you can do a handstand, you'll without a doubt have the strength to do a cartwheel. That being said, you don't have to be able to do a handstand to do a cartwheel (and I find cartwheels much easier).

 

See this link for cartwheel progression.

[Tyburn Lil]

I am oddly intrigued by the thought of watching you transform yourself into Gandalf....

Here's hoping that the cartwheeling goes well!

 

*Stalks*

[MichiruSedai]

Once you become Gandalf, you can pick us all up at our Hobbit-holes for adventures! 

[stealthstitcher]

20 hours ago, Tyburn Lil said:

I am oddly intrigued by the thought of watching you transform yourself into Gandalf....

 

Step 1: Grow Beard (working on it)

Step 2: Get Pointy Wizardy Hat (easy, I've already got one at work)

Step 3: Meddle in the Lives of Hobbits (I'll move onto this once I have steps one and two done.)

27 minutes ago, MichiruSedai said:

Once you become Gandalf, you can pick us all up at our Hobbit-holes for adventures! 

Don't blame me when thirteen dwarves to show up for dinner. (Or ... do.)  

 

[MichiruSedai]

Blame? I'd thank you! 

[weaver]

So many adventurous adventures!

[Dragon_Lady]

So if you do become Gandalf, remember there are good dragons and bad dragons. While I'm related to Smaug (third cousin on my mom's side) we certainly have different ideals. 

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Following because new adventure friends. Plus your goal to be Gandalf is EPIC!

 

Also meal planning is a support task of my goal to get more sleep. And I will love to hear how your walks the parks quest and art quest go

[stealthstitcher]

Yay, assorted new and old friends stopping by! It's always so exciting when people leave comments.  

 

My fridge, looking all tidy with my prepared meals for the week. Look how neat and empty of miscellaneous junk it is! I decided one of the keys to success may be not having any off-plan food in the house. (Yay, living alone! I don't have to worry about other people's food!) So I've only got what I decided on for my meals and snacks. Well,and some random condiments but I don't think I'll be overly tempted to chug mayonnaise in desperation. Could be wrong.  

I will say, batch cooking was exhausting. From start to final cleanup took me about four hours. I have no idea why; I put soup ingredients in the crock pot, chicken in the oven and sweet potatoes on the stovetop, portioned but did not cut up salad vegetables (cause cut up raw vegetables go weird; I'll just prep those one day at a time), made salad dressing, portioned out all the other things once they were cooked, washed the dishes ... my feet hurt from standing in the kitchen for so long. Hopefully I'll learn how to better streamline the process in future. 

Also, I discovered there's a reason I always end up going over budget (besides random purchases of stuff I don't really need). Groceries are freaking expensive! Real food, as opposed to boxes of mac and cheese and packages of ramen, really does cost quite a bit. Also I was out of several pantry staples/seasonings, so I won't have those to buy for a while. But still. I may need to increase the amount in my grocery budget. I check the sale prices, modify recipes based on what's cheaper ... but still. 

I was going to do some drawing over the weekend, but ended up having to design a custom wedding gown, so I didn't get to it. 

 

[MichiruSedai]

Your stocked fridge is a thing of beauty.

[Arrowan]

I LOVE your mindshift from being a hobbit to a wizard!  Game changer.  And what a great strategy for calorie counting--prepping your meals and having them all neat and organized for the week!  The cash-in-envelopes method is quite intriguing to me. I may have to steal some of these ideas for myself

 

All your goals look great, wishing you the best of luck! 

[weaver]

Yup, nice-looking fridge! I need to get on that meal-prepping train...

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Wow I have new goals for the layout of my fridge! Feeling your pain on the grocery bill. Those pantry staples (spices especially) are expensive :/

 

Buying meat in bulk helps a little but the upfront cost can be cringe-worthy. Frozen veggies aren't my favorite (texture is just off) but they tend to have good sales from time to time.

[stealthstitcher]

Calories for the day: 1453. I do keep having to remind myself that I'm not hungry. I'm really not - when I actually pay attention to my body I realize that it has had plenty of food. It was waaaaaay too cold for salad to be appealing, so I threw the Thai chicken zoodle salad into a pan with the dressing and cooked it. It was awesome! I think it would make a great salad on a warm summer's day, but it makes an equally appealing stir-fry type thing on a cold "spring" (ha, see me laugh) day. Snow in April. I hate it so much. 

 

Tried both step one in the handstand program and the cartwheel progression (thanks, Sylvaa!). I think I may incorporate both into my workout - handstand practice in place of my archnemesis, the plank, and possibly sub cartwheel practice for mountain climbers? I don't really want to make my workout any longer. 

Query: Does everybody else have sticky mats on their walls or something? How the heck do you walk your feet up the wall? Mine just slide down. I have to jump my feet up the wall. Once I do that, they stay there. But walking them up, no go. The first foot is already back on the floor by the time I get the second one up in the air. 

 

 

[jkiley]

On 3/31/2016 at 8:33 AM, stealthstitcher said:

Then one day it occurred to me. What if I'm not Bilbo? What if ... I AM GANDALF?!?

 

Haha, I love this.. It totally made my day when I read that.  Sometime you just need a little perspective. 

Good luck, I will be following along to see your adventures unfold! 

[Arrowan]

Seriously, the snow...it just isn't right at this point. 

 

Good job with Day 1! It really is hard to remember you're full when there are so many other reasons your brain comes up with to eat (boredom, pleasure, thirst, stress...). I'm in the same boat. Brushing my teeth after a meal helps me A LOT. 

 

As for handstand practice troubles...I started that for a while, though I didn't stick with it long enough to get away from the wall. But yes, sometimes my feet slipped. Maybe try with sneakers? Assuming you aren't already wearing them. Of course, you may have to wipe the prints off the wall afterwards, lol. 

[stealthstitcher]

Well, today was a bit rough. I managed to keep my calories under 1500, but it was definitely one of those days where you want to make yourself feel better by eating a whole cake. Which would not have helped at all. 

Found out today that Jax the Wonder Dog, canine companion extraordinaire, has aggressive, un-treatable cancer. The vet says 6 months max, probably less time than that. Pretty upsetting. So the dogs and I curled up on the couch under a blanket all evening and I watched tv while they napped. Definitely not a day for getting things done.

[Sylvaa]

While I just liked that post, it was more for curling up on the couch than actually liking anything about that post.

 

So sorry to hear about the Wonder Dog's cancer. Positive thoughts to you and the canine companion! 

[Arrowan]

12 hours ago, stealthstitcher said:

Well, today was a bit rough. I managed to keep my calories under 1500, but it was definitely one of those days where you want to make yourself feel better by eating a whole cake. Which would not have helped at all. 

Found out today that Jax the Wonder Dog, canine companion extraordinaire, has aggressive, un-treatable cancer. The vet says 6 months max, probably less time than that. Pretty upsetting. So the dogs and I curled up on the couch under a blanket all evening and I watched tv while they napped. Definitely not a day for getting things done.

That news about Jax is so sad, I'm very sorry to hear it.  I recently lost a canine companion to cancer.  It was very sudden, and I don't wish that loss on anyone.  Treasure the time you still have.  Stay strong and continue to take care of yourself, as I'm sure your dogs would want if they could only say so. 

[stealthstitcher]

Thanks for the support, guys! I do so love this community.

 

FYI, greek yogurt, frozen berries and walnuts makes an awesome on the run breakfast. 

And if I report later that I didn't get a workout in today, can somebody yell at me? I'm really terrible about, "Well, I missed one scheduled workout, the week is ruined, no point in doing any more until Monday."

[weaver]

So sorry to hear about Jax. Show each other as much love as possible!

[jkiley]

Sorry about Jax the Wonder Dog :-(

Make the time you have left worth it.