Urban homesteading -- sort of

My goodness, such a lot going through my mind today! Nothing of great import to anyone other than myself, but lots of it nevertheless.

One thing is this constant battle with losing fat off this old body. It's been awhile since it began -- mid-March -- and while I've lost a good bit, there is still more to go before I'm going to be a happy camper. Not before I'll be svelte and skinny again, because that's never going to happen. Just until more of the belly fat has departed, and we all know that's the hardest and most stubborn fat on the body.

Lately it's been really hard for me to stick with it -- I do well most of the time, but admit to eating many more calories than the diet allows, too much of the time. Then I began to realize that the fall/winter months have historically been the time when I've gained weight every year, so the fact that I'm holding my own right now could be seen as encouraging. Not losing, but not gaining, either. For now, guess I'll be content with that. I'm not sure what happens in the fall, but it probably has something to do with colder weather. I love to bake more, eat more in general, this time of year. There's probably also some deep-seated psychological reason why I feel compelled to eat more during the period from Thanksgiving through Christmas, even though I don't really celebrate or pay much attention to either. But I'm not going to look into that, because in the end, it really doesn't matter.

Another big realization is that all this boredom that's been such a big part of my world in the last year or so isn't a permanent condition. Once I get my own apartment, I'll automatically have more to do, and feel more freedom to do it. I'll have my little garden plot to tend, among other things. And, I think I've found something that's really going to take up some time, happily so, and be beneficial both to my body and my pocketbook at the same time. I've always felt that whatever I found to keep me occupied would need to be food-oriented, because cooking and food prep is just what I love to do most.

In the last few weeks I've become totally enamored of and addicted to real, old-fashioned, lacto-fermented sauerkraut and dill pickles. In fact, my body can't seem to get enough of either. Unfortunately, they don't come cheap. These aren't the typical shelf variety found in the grocery store. These are found only in refrigerated cases because they are unpasteurized, and they have a myriad of health benefits from all the natural probiotics they contain. One thing led to another and as usual I did a lot of research and reading on the subject before deciding that this is something I can easily do at home, safely and deliciously. It'll require a little investment in supplies, but those are easily available in Eugene and I'm going to do a little investigation today, see what I might need and how much it'll cost. Not just for pickles and kraut, but for other home-produced food items. We have a great store for these things, called Down to Earth. So, that's my destination for this morning.

I won't be able to do a lot until I move, because of storage space both in the cabinets and refrigerator, but I can do some. And no pickles yet, unless I find an unlikely supplier of pickling cukes in the dead of winter! But -- kraut, yes. Yogurt, yes (I've made lots of yogurt in the past so I know this is a no-brainer for me). And I'll see what else is out there, too. It'll be fun, healthy, and it'll keep me busy and entertained and having fun.

All of that brings me back to the diet issue.  It ain't easy to provide top nutrition to the body when one is limited to 1220 calories per day and has limited finances! It's a constant struggle to keep all that balanced, and while I rarely meet the goal of meeting all the needs 100% of the time, I do fairly well most of the time. Hopefully, learning to produce more foods at home will help all three. And perhaps most importantly, it'll give a real psychological boost at a time when I really need it.