And a pumpkin farmer

I am a pot farmer

This is it....

Today I achieved my goal of 30 continuous days of yoga.  Aside from two days on my own while camping last weekend, the rest has been at the Sun Water Spa.  Heck, 30 for 30 was such a good deal that even Neale has begun a practice.  

A few things that have stood out over the past 30 days:

-  Having a place to go and a reservation to be there is a motivator for getting off of my ass.  

-The breathing exercise are fascinating and really help to focus the mind on the practice.  A problem that I have at home is what my teacher Chris Dwyer affectionately calls "monkey mind".  My brain just jumps all over the place until I think of something I really have to do at that moment that is not yoga.

- Shavasana is crucial to your practice.  It is not just lying around on the mat.

- My body came back ever so quickly.  Much faster than I imagined.

- The horse loves my soft, open hips.  Keeping up with a consistent practice is worth it just to make his life better.

- Making the choice to engage in a yoga practice is influencing all other aspects of my life.  I have been making healthier choices in my diet just because I feel great and don't need to comfort eat. I am sleeping well and sex is better when you're loose and fit.

- My clothes fit!

- Also, there is so much more to the practice than just the physical.  A great teacher can help focus you mentally as well.

I am so pleased that I am going to try a monthly membership.  I figured if I have paid in advance, I will make the effort to keep up with the practice.

30 for 30

Our local spa, the Sunwater Spa, is having an amazing offer.  Thirty days of unlimited classes for 30 dollars!  I am going to take it as an opportunity to kickstart my yoga practice.
https://www.sunwellness.net/sunwater/

This year has been unusually bad for Yoga.  I have blown it off for weeks on end and when I do it, it is usually for no more than 20 minutes.

Not anymore - today I went to my 4th class in a row and it feels great.  Why do I blow off the things that make me feel so good?

Sauerkraut and Other Ferments

At the request of sister Jeanne, I post the recipe for homemade sauerkraut.  This is so easy and very delicious.  I add my kraut to soups, sandwiches, salads, and eat large bowls all on it's own.  See a pic of my latest batch.  This batch of kraut contains 1 head each of red and green cabbage, plus some yellow beets and salt.  It fermented for about 2 weeks in the basement.  Then I brought it up to the fridge.  It continues to improve in the fridge, but the pace is much slower.  It will keep a long, long time.   My preferred recipe is Sander Katz':  https://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sauerkraut-2/ as I love his whole notion of wild fermentation.  I don't use a crock, a plate, and a rock like Sander but put my cabbage in this nice jar.   I purchased the jar from The Probiotic Jar:  http://www.probioticjar.com/ .  This site also has lots of recipes for fermenting veggies.

I also have to share 2 other interesting fermentation projects.  First, I made my very own Kombucha scoby.  I've been drinking Kombucha for about a year now, ever since sister Jeanne bought some during our trip to MN in 2017.  I love it, but it's so expensive to purchase.  So I've been making my own which is cheap and easy.  I messed up my old scoby (the strange creature which contains the microbes necessary for this particular ferment) so needed a new one.  My co-op was no longer selling so I decided to make my own.  It turned out wonderfully.  It's about 1/4 inch thick and beautiful (at least I think so)  So much better than I expected.  This process took almost a month.  Then I put it straight to work on a gallon batch of kombucha.  See this link to make your very own scoby:  https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-kombucha-scoby-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202596 or you can have one of mine as each batch of kombucha makes a baby scoby.

 

I also love to bake bread which has been leavened with a wild yeast starter.  I keep my own starter in the kitchen and feed it every day.  It rewards me with beautiful and healthful breads.  This, again, is so easy to do.  See below instructions from the NY Times, which they borrowed from the book "Tartine Bread" written by Chad Robertson. (This is a wonderful book, btw, and I highly recommend).  To make a starter: Combine 1,000 grams white-bread flour with 1,000 grams whole-wheat flour. Put 100 grams of warm water (about 80 degrees) in a small jar or container and add 100 grams of the flour mix. Use your fingers to mix until thoroughly combined and the mixture is the consistency of thick batter. Cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature until mixture begins to bubble and puff, 2 to 3 days. When starter begins to show signs of activity, begin regular feedings. Keep the starter at room temperature, and at the same time each day discard 80 percent of the starter and feed remaining starter with equal parts warm water and white-wheat flour mix (50 grams of each is fine). When starter begins to rise and fall predictably and takes on a slightly sour smell, it’s ready; this should take about 1 week.

Health advice from the 1920's

This ad cracked me up.

This headline still rings true.

How's the new year going?

I completed my month of being booze free and now am drinking responsibly.  His Lordship is so please that I am available to go out for a pint every now and again!

I am still off of the coffee and have to say that I am sleeping a lot better.  Getting close to 7 hours a night.  I still wake up to pee but usually nod off with 10 minutes again so that is a big improvement.

The healthy eating plan is going well too and so is my exercise. So overall, I feel pretty swell.  How are you ladies???

However, after losing the weight gained over Christmas, I have not lost much.  The struggle goes on.  

This ad is 100 years old from 1918 proving that the battle of the bulge is nothing new!  Overstoutness - now there is a word that needs to come back into our vocabulary.

It's January

Yes - January.  Otherwise known as diet month.  It's no secret that I packed on a few pounds over the Holidays.

So today I started my diet.  Instead of setting a weight loss goal which will inevitably fail, I am going to call this diet "Three Months of Healthy eating".  Yes until April 8th I plan to eat a very clean healthy diet.  A combo of Furhman and zone type meals, 2/3 vegetarian. No booze, coffee or sweets for the first month.  It started today.

I also have been ramping up the exercise since Christmas - hiking, doing yoga, riding.  I intend on adding Pilates and weights. We will see if that happens this time.

Well, I need to go menu plan.  Wish me luck.  I hope this doesn't happen tomorrow.

What are your New Years plans???  Any healthy resolutions to tackle?