Getting ready for lean times

     I have been watching the price of food skyrocket for months.   Up over 200% from 3 years ago and unfortunately it isn't ever going to go down.   If this terrible New Green Deal goes down food is even going to be scarcer because how are farmers going to be able to plant their fields and harvest and how will they get to market.   It could be the death of the family farm.

    Ideally you live on a small acreage and can have a few stock, cows, a pig or 2 and some chickens and are able to put in a large garden.    I live on the outskirts of town and am able to put in a garden and if I had the money could have someone build me a chicken coop since I am not at all handy about that kind of stuff but the truth is I am retired and my extra funds are limited.

    I decided months ago I need to start a long term food storage pantry.    I got a really good dehydrator off of marketplace on facebook.  The excalibur 9 tray.   I paid 100 dollars saving me a couple of hundred dollars.  I call mine Big Bertha.

 

   I have been using her a lot.   I also bought the bible of food dehydrating book, everything you always wanted to know about how to safely dehydrate and store food is in the book.  

 

 I watched youtube videos on how to make simple meals and dehydrate them so all I would have to do was add them to water and the meal was ready.  I found the best recipes on camping video how too.  

    As a nurse for 40 years I always go by the old adage, prepare for the worse but pray for the best.   I would rather have enough food to feed us then not enough, we are too old to go foraging for supplies.  

    I have been having fun making these and learned a lot on the way.  I also have been making mustards, vinegars, extracts, you name it.

   So this morning I decided I wanted to do something with these blueberries I dehydrated.  Frankly out of all the fruit these were a disappointment and I can't get they to re-hydrate to where I like them.  I could have powdered them and added them to pancakes, cakes etc but I saw a youtube video today where he talked about the fact that dried fruit works better for making vinegar then fresh and it is really easy to make vinegar.   I have been making apple scrap vinegar with my apples cores and peels for awhile and love the freshness, it is not a true apple cider vinegar but for flavoring it is wonderful and works great in cooking.   So I put my dried blueberries in a sterile jar, added bottled water and put a coffee filter and a rubber band on it so it can start to ferment.   This needs to be stirred daily but he says you have less chance of getting mold.   Taste it in about 10 days and when the taste is what you like then strain it and bottle it.  He also ranted and raved about the raisin vinegar so I made some of that also.  Please excuse the labels, when I bottle these I will print some nice looking ones but I reuse these so often I am getting lazy.  The really important thing is dating them, and stirring the vinegars daily.  In the back row I have some triple strength vanilla I have made.  To turn out really great it takes 18 months, you can have good vanilla extra in a couple of weeks but for great concentrated vanilla this is the best.  I used bourbon madagascar vanilla beans, 2 whole beans to 1 pint of vodka.   This needs to be shaken daily for about a month and then just once a week or so when you think about it.  I used Tito in one and for kicks and giggle Captain Morgan in the other.  The darker one is the Captain Morgan.

       A few days ago I dehydrated 10 pounds of onions and about 25 large bunches of garlic.    I really like keeping this on hand and trust me, it is so much more flavorful then store bought you have no idea how long it has been on the shelf.  Every time I see a good deal on either I buy it up.  The prep time sucks and many tears are spilled but my mandoline.    I use one similar to this. 

 I had a different one and kept cutting my finger tips even with my cut resistant gloves.   This cuts down the chopping time by hours.  Then I dehydrated them which took about 18 hours.   I will condition them jars and then in a couple days I will make onion powder out of some and garlic powder out of some and then just keep the minced for adding to soups.   I like to make meal packs to add to my long term storage so then when I have enough of everything dried I measure it up into different soups and use my vacuum sealer to seal them.  I usually don't had the spices directly to my soup mixes but will make us seasoning packets and after I have my meal sealed in the first vacuum pack I stick the both into a mylar bags,  I will vacuum seal my seasoning packets in small bags.  I date them, very important, and then I keep them in my finishing cupboard for a few days to make sure I have no bag failure and then I transfer them to my food storage buckets and transfer them to my long term storage shelves.   

    I love to eat and although I don't consider myself a true prepper I am getting prepared because our country has been taken over and things are going to get bad.   I am not so stupid to think the government will provide for our needs.   Never trust politicians as they don't give a hoot about you.  I think Trump was the only one there who was fighting to keep our country free and it is because he wasn't a politician.  So they are doing their best to steal the election and I am afraid they might succeed. They have done a hostile coup.  I have read the  Communist Manifesto,  first time decades ago and I re read it again last year, they are following the guidelines to turn us into a communist country by the book.   They started in our schools and slowly turned our children against the country, then they put them in offices, had radicals teach in our colleges, started the politically correct movement to effectively shut people up and then we are seeing our freedom of speech being silenced by social media sites.   The news is all the same owned by the same people.  Go to any channel and listen to the news and it is read off the same teleprompter approved by their leaders.  Go against it and you are attacked and your career is over.  Doctors speak the truth and are silenced.   The mindless masses blinding follow instructions and people listen to politicians instead of scientists and doctors.

    Not all of us though.  So in a nutshell that is why I am preparing.   I know communism doesn't work, I know we have to provide for ourselves and like I said, I like to eat.

Made my goal

  A year has gone by since I joined weight watchers and what a journey it has been.  As of today I am down 68 pounds.  Add that to what I lost before and in 2 pounds I will be down 100.   I made my goal.

   I am now on maintenance.   My doc set my goal weight, higher then younger people but perfect for me.    And I made another goal.  I retired.   Years of taking care of some most amazing people, now I am taking care of myself to be the healthiest I can be.

  I found WW easy, maybe because I was so ready to finally get the weight off completely.   I like the points.  It makes it easy.  I did however continue with myfitnesspal because I like knowing how many calories  I am eating.  I have learned so much, like for me, don't count your exercise calories because I will be tempted to eat them back.   WW is great because they don't add extra points for exercises like my fitness pal does.   You just get the same points so you aren't tempted to overeat.  Something about not wanting to go over my points works for me.

     I feel so much better, fit and active and if it weren't for my bum knee I could walk forever.   I am forever grateful that when I looked into getting lapband surgery they made me try to lose weight on my own first, and I found out if truly motivated I could.   The friends I had that had the surgery regret it and it turned out to not be as successful as they thought it would.  It really just comes down to eating a deficit to what your body needs.  And I can eat what I want, just in proper portions.

  What a difference.   

My WW journey.

 

      It has been 10 months since I started weight watchers and almost a decade since I decided to lose this weight.  In 6 pounds I will be down 100 pounds, 60 since I joined WW.   I am finally getting to where I want to be.

   I am not sure why WW is the program that seemed to click with me.  I have been logging my foods for years, but with WW you just do points.   Actually I still log my food on my fitness pal every day also.  I need the accountability.   Things I have noticed using WW is they are death on any type of smoothie, carbs or meat other then fish, chicken and turkey.   You eat regular bread and bam, 17 points.  I one had a piece of buttermilk pie since I had never tried it before, yikes, 33 points.  I get 23 points a day.  That was a day and a half with one small slice of pie.  I made the mistake of eating before checking the points.  I check first now.   

     This has been the longest journey.  Many stops and stalls along the way.   I always kept active which helped since when I did gain I never gained it all back but it got harder and harder to get it back.   I am not getting younger.   I had to have several surgeries which really stopped my progress and my exercise.   Also several seriously terrible times in my life made me not put my health on the front burner and I spiraled down a deep hole of despair.  But, I can't stay down for long and was not happy with being that sad fat person so I would climb on my trusty bike and start logging food again.  And that is the secret to success.  Never giving up.  

   When I first started WW  I made a few mistakes.  They have over 200 free point foods.   I once ate a bag of grapes, great grapes because I kept thinking they were free, in fact I ate several free foods in great quantities.   Fortunately common sense and logging on my fitness pal woke me up.  In proper portions those foods are free, but they do have calories and many people, myself included made this mistake.  Eat a normal portion though and it is great.  Now a days I don't do many free foods, I have found out eating too many fruits will make me stall.  Even eating what they say you should eat a day will make me stall.  So a couple a day work for me. 

   The first couple of weeks I had a headache from getting the sugar out they say.  I have to admit I was eating way to many treats.   I was also hungry and staying in my points was a challenge but it is easy now.  I have points left over in fact most days.  Another thing I don't do, but many do with success is eat my weeklies, extra points often.   I learned the hard way that I found myself exercising more so I could eat more and that is the beginning of making bad choices and eating too much for me.  I always ate healthy but too much.  The ole guy always cooked to much and I hate to waste food.  Just an excuse but it is the fact of the matter.

  I also made changes in WW.  When I started back to the gym and was working out a lot plus riding my bike and down 35 pounds I was bummed I still didn't feel better, I was tired all the time, no energy.  I expected to feel great.   After reading though my old journal I found a entry about micronutrients and the importance of fat and carbs for energy so I have added some more carbs, in reason and good fats like olive oil and coconut oil to  routine and now have the energy I need to make my workouts counts.

   I am now considered overweight.   No longer morbidly obese and it feels great.  I can wear medium clothes and shop in normal sections.  That is a thrill.  Things I have noticed.   Being bony hurts,  I have banged my shoulder blades which used to be covered in flesh.  My tailbone hurts on my bike and I had to get a new seat.   Sadly also since it took me so long to figure out this weight loss thing instead of getting tone and looking great I now have a lot of saggy flesh.  Sagging neck, sagging arms and saggy gut.  But, I have muscles and my biking calves are amazing and I feel amazing and fully clothed I don't look too bad.  So win win.  

   Well, that is my update.   If your thinking of weight watchers and wonder if it works it does.  The weight loss is slow, which is better as it keeps you from feeling deprived.  Everything you want to eat you can with planning.  If I now I am going out to eat that night I eat a zero or low point breakfast and lunch, eggs are free and save my points for supper.   I try to plan before I get there what I can eat and figure out my points first.  I have pizza once a week, but do the thin slice mostly veggie kind.   I had a piece of heavenly strawberry rhubarb pie but had a small slice which still tasted great.   Finally I am doing this weight loss thing.  Correctly.  Yippy to me.

Weight watchers 9 months in

  Slowly but surely the weight is coming off.   From a size 22 or 3X to a 14.   This new WW makes its pretty easy if you follow the plan.   This has taken me a long time and I am a ways yet before I get to where I want to go.  

   When I first joined I put my goal weight pretty high.  I reached my first goal fairly easily.

 Wow. I did it.  But I knew I wasn't finished.   I could do better and get lower.  So I committed to a new goal weight of 20 pounds less, and I am now 8 pounds away from that goal and am pretty sure I will just keep on going.

   The best thing is I am back on my bike and working out at the gym again.   I bought a bike helmet for the first time and am feeling great for a 64 year old woman.  And I took a selfie, harder then it looks.

   If you think you can't do it your wrong.  You can.  Just never think you have failed when you have a bad day.   Just start fresh the next.  

Weight watchers 4 months in

Winter is around the corner and we are getting cold.

 It has been 4 months since I started weight watchers.  I am down 15 pounds.  Slow.  But my clothes are fitting better and I had to get new uniforms because the bag lady look is sloppy.

   They said this new freestyle is a more slow weight loss geared to eating healthier then the old WW and staying off.

   I like this point system.  The problem I am having is I was never much of a snacker, more of a portion control problem with me.   I think with this program you have to eat your zero points and be mindful of what they are.  I love fruit and vegetables so that isn't a problem but feeling like snacking is, so I am still just making my meals worth it and loading up on my vegetables then.

   The recipes on WW are surprisingly good also, most of them.  The taco soup and chili is to die for and I love making stir fry so that is good but I hate the way your almost penalized for eating any kind of bread or noodle.  Or butter.  I don't like noodles make of vegetables, I want my wheat noodles so I just eat them and count them.  I hate fake butter so I still use butter in small amounts.  I want to eat healthy and hate sugar free products that taste like chemicals and have chemicals in them so I stay clear of them also.

   I have been cooking a lot.  I don't mind cooking when I have everything but I hate shopping.  I might make a recipe list and order on line and then just go pick it up, lazy I am.  I tried to get the ole guy to make the recipes but he has decided this year to not cook much.  We are both getting lazy as we get older.   Eating out is such a problem because they cook everything in butter and sauces so  I have a hard time figuring out what to eat and don't want salads every single day.   I wish I had been born thin with a really good metabolism.  Unfortunately I wasn't so this struggle has been going on for years.

   I did have a large weight loss a few years back and never regained all of that weight but go up and down, up and down.  Now that I am older then dirt my knees and ankles are a pain so getting the weight off will help but exercising is becoming more difficult.  And for each 5 pounds lost I gained 100 wrinkles, I am looking like a prune and I have to admit that bothers me, but I am 64.  My mom always used to say for each new wrinkle you have to put on 5 pounds, but when deflated my old skin looks saggy, but eating so healthy makes me feel great so I will just not look in the mirror anymore. haha.

Weight watchers

   So a week ago Tuesday I joined weight watchers.  All the diets I have been on this most popular one is one I never joined because with my work schedule I knew I would never make the meetings.  I am doing the new freestyle on line program.

  This point system seemed so strange to me, what, no counting calories?  All these foods with zero count making them free foods, also very strange.  I must admit I didn't trust it at first.  I did what they said to do but also journal my eating in my fitness pal to see exactly how many calories I was eating and how close it was to that calorie range. I was surprised to see it was pretty close so I feel better.

  Well, it has been a week and a half and I am down 3 and a half pounds.   The freestyle is designed to make the weight loss slow and steady.  So, since I haven't died yet I guess I have time.

  One thing that is weird.  With only this small amount of weight loss I have lost some inches in my waist and my face is thinner.  At 64 I expect I am going to look older with this weight loss, but heck, I am old.

   Just to give you an idea of my typical day eating.
 Breakfast,  scrambled eggs, 2, seasoned with pepper.  I could have unlimited veggies with these but am always in a hurry.  Or fruit.

  Lunch, a turkey sandwich on thin multigrain bun with lettuce, mustard and tomato.  Turkey is a free zero point food so  I have a nice thick sandwich.  Steamed vegetables or fruit of some kind. Or both, usually both.

  Supper, turkey burger or chicken, white meat.  Steam veggie of some sort,

  I still have my daily coffee with 2 shots of espresso, can not give that up.

  Desert, right now I have only tried the chocolate graham cracker which I eat slowly and enjoy, the rich chocolate taste is surprisingly satisfying.

  I was miserable and hungry the first week.  I think lack of carbs and you can get sick quickly of chicken and turkey, but all seafood are zero points and if I do decide on a steak I can just adjust my points around it.

   I think I must be the only one in the world at my age that has not done WW.  But, it is still a very successful diet for thousands of people, why not me.  I may be getting older but I still, for my knees and ankles sake, want to get thinner.