# 7 (2013) Normality

It has now been just over a month since I last went food shopping thanks mainly to Christmas away and several food parcels packed into my luggage on my return. I baked bread the other week (something I haven't done since last summer) and the hens are laying eggs again so that's something else that's back on the menu.

I used to cook a lot when I was a student with a grant. I made a lot from scratch and I'd stockpile food in the freezer. And on occasions, like the other day, I'll be rummaging in the freezer and discover four icecream tubs. Now I KNOW they don't contain ice cream. Instead I have two of homemade soup, and two of stewed rhubarb, all stockpiles from last year. It's satisfying finding food like this at the back of the freezer. Particularly as these days when I'm only cooking for one I prefer not to have to make a meal. Which is lazy but I am pleased that I finally seem to have overcome my love of food. 

It's a relief to be eating normally again after the festive gluttony. I struggle with changes of diet because I don't have a particularly varied menu and any sudden detours can have an unsettling effect. Being off ill for a couple of weeks before Christmas left me unable to eat or drink much over Christmas so I didn't feel I'd over indulged.

(source)

Now I'm worrying about the amount of exercise I'm not getting (like a good chunk of the UK). Exercising for free in the winter is hard. It's cold, often raining (or like today, snowing) and the hours of daylight make you sluggish. It's really hard to get motivated but I've got to the point where I have so emotionally blackmailed myself I have no option but to do something about it.

Team exercise is the best remedy. I need to be encouraged and exercise with someone else makes it fun. I've started playing tennis. Myself and my partner started up last year but we got rained off more times than we played. We started up again this week despite the arrival of the snow. There are free tennis courts across the road and it seems ridiculous not to use them.

(source)

I've also started a more strict monitoring system for what I'm spending my money on. I don't have extravagant expenditure by any means but there's always a way to cut back and seeing where the money goes is the first step to cutting back. I also have a sneaky feeling I may be kidding myself on how frugal my lifestyle is. So I have set up a new spreadsheet to keep an eye on things.

All this makes me feel like I am doing something productive. So watch this space.