The Old Forest - Calanthia Cobbin wanders no more!

[Calanthia Cobbin]

Seeing as how Calanthia is new around these parts, she figures that she owes you a little intro:

 

At 4'11" and over 165 lbs, I have always been a very typical hobbit, short and round. I enjoyed the comforts of home far more than the rush of adventure and the feeling of my feet on a path. I was married at the young age of 20, still practically a child in hobbit-years, and now three years later, I feel I have done nothing of importance in my life. I went to school to teach science to adolescent hobbits, but have never been hired as a teacher because no one wants to hire a hobbit that has to move every year for her husband, who is amazingly attending Healer-school and serving in the Shire border guard at the same time. I was an athlete when I was young(er), however the years had been hard on me, both physically and emotionally. A combination of discouragement, years of comparing myself to my successful and ambitious husband, and general lack of motivation had contributed to feelings of inadequacy, numbness, and what my husband calls "the blues," though at times I fear it is something more. 

 

But all of that is going to change. I began my adventure in November of last year, and since then I have been wandering from place to place, hoping to find somewhere that I fit in, somewhere that I belong. I've had some brief visits with the Assassins, Scouts, and the Druids, but nothing ever really felt like home. For the past several months I even took to the wilds, wandering without direction and without companions, until today when I happened to stumble upon Ye Olde Ranger Guildhall. Inside was a Ranger, and when he spoke to the crowd within the hall I felt an awakening of the bravery and wanderlust that started me on my journey nearly a year ago. This is where my story begins... 

 

May your roads go ever on and on,

~Cal

 

As Calanthia Cobbin's alter-ego, and the only one of us who has access to technology (they don't have internet in the woods of Middle Earth), I will be her anonymous typist. She is currently working on her challenge goals, and once she relays those to me I will post them here ASAP

 

Thank you all for listening, and I truly hope that you will love Calanthia as I have grown to love her! 

 

Challenge Goals

Week 1-3 Recap

Week 4 Recap

Challenge Recap!

[bker1370]

Welcome aboard

[jonfirestar]

Welcome, we're happy to have you with us! Grand adventures await!

 

 

[Elastigirl]

Hi. Glad you wandered over to the Rangers. We truly are fellow hobbits, as I am just barely 5' 1" .I think you will find a home here among the Rangers, they are an awesome guild.

[Calanthia Cobbin]

*Warning*

*I am long-winded, a storyteller, and I sometimes ramble*

*The important (tl;dr) stuff is highlighted in different colors!*

 

As promised, my challenge goals are below. Since I wandered in the forest for so long, I've forgotten how to care for myself. In order to whip myself back into shape, I'm going back to the basics to make sure that my foundations are strong while I work on my mindset outside of the challenge. Here goes nothin'... 

 

Main Quest: To establish healthy habits

 

Goal #1: Ranger Training 

 

 

As a new Ranger I must hone my skills and be ready to do what is necessary at all times so that I am not caught off guard, which means that I must adhere to a physical fitness routine to keep me in tip-top shape and prepared for anything. This routine should contain a combination of activities to keep me strong, yet agile. Therefore, my first goal is to establish and maintain a weekly fitness routine. Each week I must complete the following:

 

Strength Train 3x per week

Swim or Run 2x per week

Yoga or Extra-long Stretch routine 2x per week

 

I can do one workout per day, or I can combine days and do yoga and strength in one day, or perhaps go swimming and lift another day with a rest day in between, as long as all workouts are completed each week. This means that if I skip a day, I must still make it up later that week, or I will lose points.

 

At 100% completion I can earn up to 10 xp and +3 STR

 

Goal #2: Seeking Galadriel's Mirror

 

 

I have attempted a water goal several times in the past, and I am determined to see it through this time. A ranger knows the powerful effects of nature on the body, including the power of water and adequate hydration. The positive impacts on one's health are numerous when drinking enough water, and it also helps to keep away other malevolent cravings for such toxins as "soda" and "alcohol." For the duration of this challenge I must drink a minimum of 2L of water per day, 5 days out of the week.  I will count this mainly for the 5 weekdays, but if I miss a weekday I can use a weekend as a make-up day. I cannot, however, use the weekends as extra credit. I can receive half credit for a day if I drink 1L, but no less than that will count for points. 

 

At 100% completion I may earn up to 10 xp and +3 CON

 

Goal #3: Tracking the Food to Isengard!

 

 

Okay, maybe not ALL the way to Isengard, but at least on a day-to-day basis. In the past I have done a TERRIBLE job at this, and as a result I don't keep tabs on what my body is consuming each day, and I tend to over-snack and even binge when I'm not under control. For example, my husband and I ate out twice the other day without even realizing it, simply because we were busy and didn't pay attention. This is not conducive to a strong and agile ranger form, and therefore I must get my food habits back under control.

 

Therefore, each day I must enter everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING this time) that I eat into MFP every day. At the moment, I'm not keeping track of macros or calories, though I do have my goals for these entered into MFP so that during this challenge I can see how far I need to go to reach my goals. For example, yesterday when I entered my food for the day, I needed to almost double my protein intake and cut my carb intake in half. I also ate WAY over my calorie goal, so I will have to keep track of this to see if it is a common pattern in my daily diet and what needs to change. Over time, I can use this information to adjust my diet until I am making sure that my body receives the fuel it needs each day for "Rangery" things!

 

At 100% completion, I can earn up to 10 xp and +3 STA

 

Life Quest #1: It Began Long Ago...

 

 

For as far back as I can remember, I have loved stories. I love to listen to them, I love to tell them, and I love to write them. Specifically, Tolkien, JK Rowling, CS Lewis, and GRR Martin are really inspiring to me (I know, cliche). I got the idea for a story in the 6th grade, and began writing out all the possible ideas I had during school. Naturally, this story has evolved and changed over time but it is always the same story, tugging and pulling at my heart and my mind to write it down.

 

Unfortunately, being the nerd that I am, school was always far more important and required my attention more... But now that I've graduated from college, I'm determined to get this thing completely outlined and written out, especially with NaNoWriMo coming up! For this challenge, since I don't want to interfere too much with my main quest, I will simply require that I work on my book in some way or another for 30 minutes each day, 6 times per week. This can include outlining, characterization, using prompts for ideas, or writing out what has already been outlined, etc. 

 

At 100% completion for this goal, I can earn up to 10 xp and +3 WIS

 

Life Quest #2: Studying the Ancient Lore

 

 

In my long journey through the wilderness, I discovered that part of my dissatisfaction with my life was in my choice of career. I went to school to be a science teacher, and though I love the idea of it, I don't like the person that I become when tasked with maintaining control of 30 angsty teenagers... However, I have always dreamed of becoming a professor (where the students maintain control of themselves). On the other hand, I have also always felt a pulling in my soul to do something with medicine as well, either veterinary or with humans. Thus began my quest to take the MCAT, go to Medical school, and become a Psychiatrist with my own practice, so that I can set my own hours and teach at a university or medical school a few times a week. This is basically my equivalent of "why not both?" 

 

I'm starting out my MCAT studies slowly, since I've been out of school for almost two years now. My goal for this challenge is to study one chapter of my MCAT study books each night, and then take a short practice quiz over that chapter in the morning. I will do this M-F of each week, but I can make-up skipped days on Saturdays if something comes up during the week. 

 

At 100% completion, I may earn up to 10 xp and +3 INT

 

So there you have it! I apologize for the long post, hopefully this will be the only long one until the wrap-up

 

I'll try to update every day or at least every other day, so that I don't keep you in suspense! If you have suggestions for my challenge or questions about my goals, feel free to let me know! I hope you all enjoyed and I look forward to reading your challenges!

 

May your roads go ever on and on,

~Cal

[Calanthia Cobbin]

22 hours ago, bker1370 said:

Welcome aboard

 

21 hours ago, jonfirestar said:

Welcome, we're happy to have you with us! Grand adventures await!

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Hi. Glad you wandered over to the Rangers. We truly are fellow hobbits, as I am just barely 5' 1" .I think you will find a home here among the Rangers, they are an awesome guild.

 

*bows* Thank you! and I certainly do hope to find a home here among you awesome Rangers

[Mr_Willes]

Hey there! Checking in to see how you hit it off!

 

Aah you have wandered by the Ye Olde Ranger Guildhall, a might fine establishment. You know as we speak an old veteran ranger is on the verge of breaking some very hefty news? Maybe you should check out 

 

On 19-9-2016 at 2:56 AM, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

A bearded stranger kicks his feet up on the tavern table at Ye Olde Ranger Guildhall.  You feel like you've seen him around before but certainly haven't exchanged words.  Now that you think of it, it seems like no one ever approaches the mysterious senior Ranger in his smoky alcove... the faintly glowing bowl of a long-stemmed clay pipe illuminates his face upon every puff of the rich cherrywood scent, shrouding his features as much as the dim lighting.

 

That might suit you...

 

Have fun over here, and if you need anything, just post or PM! (There might be a chance you have found your home...) 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

1 minute ago, mr_willes said:

Hey there! Checking in to see how you hit it off!

 

Hey! Yesterday was my W1 Day 1, and it wasn't too bad

 

Ranger Training: I planned to do a long stretch routine but it didn't happen, I'll probably tag it on to the back end of a strength workout sometime this week

Galadriel's Mirror: I'm only officially tracking this M-F unless I miss a day, but I did drink about a liter of water anyway

Tracking the Food to Isengard: I tracked everything and got full credit! Even though we ate out a lot and I binged a little, it will give me valuable insight into my habits for later

 

Writing and Studying didn't happen yesterday simply because I'm not worrying about that on Sundays  

 

Today is going well so far and I'll be sure to post about it tonight

 

Also P.S. I really like smiley faces... can't you tell?

[Calanthia Cobbin]

One Liter of water down for Day 2!!! 

 

I feel like this:

 

 

HALP 

[Mr_Willes]

That's hilarious and reminded me of this dog

 

 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

That's hilarious and reminded me of this dog

 

 

I LOVES IT!

[jonfirestar]

7 hours ago, Calanthia Cobbin said:

I will simply require that I work on my book in some way or another for 30 minutes each day, 6 times per week.

 

I love this goal  it's a lot easier than people often think. If you just do 1 page a day its enough. Depending on how fast you can type that might only take a few minutes each day. 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

On 9/26/2016 at 4:21 PM, jonfirestar said:

 

I love this goal  it's a lot easier than people often think. If you just do 1 page a day its enough. Depending on how fast you can type that might only take a few minutes each day. 

 

Yep! I follow The Write Practice and sometimes will do their 15 minute prompts to get me started and then I enjoy it so much that I just keep going for the whole 30 minutes I try to apply the prompts to my book that way I may uncover a gem or two that can go in the final product and then the 30 minutes aren't wasted because I still worked on my book!

[Calanthia Cobbin]

Well, it's been a hectic two days since I last posted and I'm already a tiny bit behind on some of my goals. Thank goodness for the weekends to catch up! 

 

W1D2:

 

Ranger Training: I had planned to go to my gym to swim for a bit, but my car died :/ so we spent the entire evening attempting to get a jump and get it fixed only for the auto guys to inform me that they couldn't fix it because the battery is in a weirdo place under the wheel well instead of the hood, and I would have to take it to a *real* shop. By then it was bedtime so the hubby and I just went to sleep and I vowed to go running after my next workout.

 

Seeking Galadriel's Mirror: As you may have noticed in my earlier post, I drank one liter of water by 2pm or so and felt like I was DROWNING. So I took a little break, did some chores, and then came back and finished that last liter after dinner

 

Tracking the Food to Isengard: I tracked everything I ate all the way down to the seasonings on my steak! I actually ate pretty well this day and I'm pretty proud of myself. Even though I'm not actively trying to reach my goals at the moment (trying to catch unhealthy patterns), I did notice that I am nowhere near the amount of protein I should be eating, and I eat probably double the carbs I should be on a regular basis. This will have to be something I work on. 

 

It Began Long Ago... I actually started this, but after only a few minutes I had to stop because dinner was ready, and then I decided "oh I'll finish it after dinner!" but then the fiasco with the car happened... so I need to start getting this done early in the morning just in case

 

Studying Ancient Lore: Again, the stupid car problem ruined all of my plans! I always tell myself that I'll "do it tonight" and then something comes up... At least I can catch up this weekend!

 

W1D3 (Tuesday): 

 

Ranger Training: Tuesdays are supposed to be a strength day for me, but my husband worked for 12 hours, came home, and basically melted into the couch for the rest of the night. I told him that I would probably go without him, but then I succumbed to peer pressure and stayed home to study instead :/ I made him pinky promise that we would do it tomorrow though! I am so falling behind on this

 

Seeking Galadriel's Mirror: I spent the entire morning in the auto shop trying to get my car battery (and apparently my entire braking system) replaced, so I only had from about 2pm on to drink the entire 2L of water... and I did it! But boy did I have to get up so many times in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom... 

 

Tracking the Food to Isengard: So after spending all morning in the car shop I was STARVING and definitely let myself binge a little on fast food... I felt pretty gross after and have learned my lesson... but at least I tracked it all in MFP! Even the embarrassing stuff! Again, still too many carbs and not enough protein, and too much sodium and sugar

 

It Began Long Ago... Again, tried to start this, got distracted by my dogs going crazy and didn't finish. I did also prioritize my studies over this today, so I'll maybe just write for an hour one of these days to get caught back up. 

 

Studying Ancient Lore: I actually finished this! I studied the chapter over the Endocrine system and will take a short quiz over it today before moving on to the next chapter

 

 

Here's to a better day today! 

 

~Cal

[Elastigirl]

Great job at tracking the food! When I first started trying to drink more water it was super hard, now it still is a bit of a struggle sometimes, but mostly a habit. It took me doing it for 3 challenges or so to finally make it a habit though

[Calanthia Cobbin]

2 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Great job at tracking the food! When I first started trying to drink more water it was super hard, now it still is a bit of a struggle sometimes, but mostly a habit. It took me doing it for 3 challenges or so to finally make it a habit though

 

This would be my third attempt and already I'm doing much better! Maybe there is truth to that "third time's the charm" saying

 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

W1D4:

 

Ranger Training: Today was an ultra success! I basically made up for the past three days today I was feeling pretty stiff this morning from sitting all day, so I went ahead and did a full extra-long stretch routine, which counted for one of my exercises. Then when my husband got home from work today we made a point of going out and working out right away before we could make any excuses. We did 25 minutes of cardio before doing our strength training, so that knocked out another two exercises for the week Only four more to go! 

 

Seeking Galadriel's Mirror: After having to get up three or four times last night to use the restroom, I made sure to get all of my water-drinking done as soon as possible! I had 2 liters down before dinner and can try to get it all out of my system before bed this time it's already getting easier!

 

Tracking the Food to Isengard: Successfully tracked all of my food today! I had a pretty carb-heavy lunch and decided to try and pack in as much protein as possible at dinner, so I made a chicken and mushroom crockpot dump recipe and it was AMAAAAZING!!! I'm now officially in love with mushrooms... I guess I am a hobbit after all

 

It Began Long Ago... Amazingly and much to my surprise, I was actually able to get this done today! I tried looking for a writing prompt but wasn't really feeling it, so I just started working on the physical descriptions of some of my characters. I've got some general ideas of what some of them look like, but I think I need to try and find some actors that look like them so I can get a better visual of them in my mind... 

 

Studying Ancient Lore: Successfully took my quiz on yesterday's endocrine system chapter, and then spent the next several hours studying the respiratory system  

 

Basically, today was a really productive day! The first I've had in a while -- hopefully I can keep up the momentum My energy comes in waves throughout the week so at least I'm not currently running behind! 

 

Hope you all had as good of a day as I did  

 

~Cal 

[bker1370]

4 hours ago, Calanthia Cobbin said:

I've got some general ideas of what some of them look like, but I think I need to try and find some actors that look like them so I can get a better visual of them in my mind...

Or maybe pick the brains of some the artists hanging around here?  I know we have a few (myself NOT included LOL).

[jonfirestar]

6 hours ago, Calanthia Cobbin said:

I tried looking for a writing prompt but wasn't really feeling it, so I just started working on the physical descriptions of some of my characters. I've got some general ideas of what some of them look like, but I think I need to try and find some actors that look like them so I can get a better visual of them in my mind... 

 

My two cents, for what they are worth, is to start with some small detail and work outwards. The tiny things that individualizes them. Like does she have slightly crooked teeth, or does he have a scar on the back of his head where his hair no longer grows properly, does he have flecks of brown in his green eyes, or does her nose wrinkle up when she laughs.  Little things make the character rather than the larger broader things.

 

Keep up the great work, it is important to build up momentum whilst you have the motivation! Lets keep it going for Day 5!!

 

 

 

 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

 

My two cents, for what they are worth, is to start with some small detail and work outwards. The tiny things that individualizes them. Like does she have slightly crooked teeth, or does he have a scar on the back of his head where his hair no longer grows properly, does he have flecks of brown in his green eyes, or does her nose wrinkle up when she laughs.  Little things make the character rather than the larger broader things.

 

Keep up the great work, it is important to build up momentum whilst you have the motivation! Lets keep it going for Day 5!!

 

 

 

 

This is very true! I'll have to try this more. I've done it with one or two characters, but not the ones I'm struggling with. Thanks!

[Nina-Rose]

Good luck with your goals: I'm also tracking food, novel-writing daily, drinking water and working out 3x a week  If I meet my goals, anyway!
(I came here from the Women's FB group, btw - hai!) 

[Mr_Willes]

Hope your first weekend was as productive as your first few days of this challenge. Curious to see a week 1 write up! (Says the guy that still needs to update his own thread with fri-sat-sun and week 1 wrap up...)

[Mr_Willes]

I saw you moving among the board just now (i'm sneaky like that). So report in on how you are doing. Even if things aren't going the way they are supposed to. Just let us know so we can cheer you on!

[Calanthia Cobbin]

Calanthia burst through the doors and collapsed in a heap on the floor. Her journeys had taken her across many obstacles, especially that of the Forest of Lost Interwebs, leaving her unable to escape and unable to communicate with her fellow rangers for far longer than she liked. She fought and fought to break through the thick trees and could almost see sunlight yesterday, but only for a moment. It wasn't until today that a large wild man named "Mane Tenance" had come and cut down one of the trees, freeing her from the Lost Interwebs Forest.

Fortunately she had not forgotten her training while stuck in the terrible woods, and would tell her fellow rangers all about it as soon as she had a nap and a large ale...

[Nina-Rose]

You have returned! Huzzah!
Rest up, and then regale us with your tales!