Finding My Enough

I started this past last Wednesday. This is what I'd written:

For the first time in months, probably years actually, I didn't make my bed right after getting up. Or even an hour later. In fact, I didn't make my bed at all today. I know! The horror! I'm not sure why I was such a rebel. I think I just got going on other things and didn't even realize I'd left the bed unmade until after lunch, when I walked into the bedroom to change into shorts. Or maybe it's because I'm getting old and just forgot. When I went to change from jeans to shorts since the day was warming up and saw my unmade bed, it was like meh, whatever. I changed and left it the way it was. 

Every day since, I've made my bed like usual, right after getting up. There's just something about the practice, the routine. It's a small accomplishment, keeps my bedroom tidy and comfortable. 

With it being just me here, the living spaces remain mostly tidy all the time. Living on one level that isn't much more than 1300 square feet of space means there isn't a lot of house to have to clean. Which I'm very thankful for after having lived in a house of over 2500 square feet. My little house suits me. I've found my "enough." A friend used to tell me I should build a tiny home and find a couple of acres to park it on. I seriously looked into it. Unfortunately, the cost would have been more than what I paid for my little house. I had a limit as to what I wanted to pay for the place that would fulfill my notion of "enough," and I wasn't going to budge.

Every morning when I open my eyes, I just lie there in amazement that I get to wake up to this space. I have found my "enough."

I believe, too, that my decision to finally go vegan, which really is a whole foods plant based approach to eating, fits with my notion of "enough." Veggies, fruits, legumes, beans -- these are more than enough. They provide all the nutrients a body needs, and they are yummy. What more could I ask for? 

Over the weekend, I cooked up some polenta. I've never had polenta before, and after doing some reading, I found a simple recipe to try out: polenta with mixed berry compote. I about swooned with the first bite. Truly delicious. Then I found a recipe for tortilla soup. That, too, gave my taste buds a twirl. 

I could have eaten another bowl of the polenta with the mixed berry compote. It was seriously that good. Thankfully, I had enough soup to last through the weekend, so I enjoyed it for several meals.

Since I made the leap to eating whole foods plant based, I've lost two pounds (I think I've lost a few more, but I didn't really start keeping track until four weeks ago) and have gone from 30% body fat to 29% body fat. I started out with normal body fat percentage for an adult as the range is from 25%-35%, with me being right smack dab in the middle of the range, but I do want to get down to 27% just to be on the lower end of the range. I also hope to lose six more pounds, which will put me at the weight I was when I truly felt my best, but I'm not in a hurry to make this happen. I figure it will if I simply stay with the fruits, veggies, legumes, and beans. What I find really interesting is the weight loss and decrease in fat percentage is happening without any extreme exercise, just my three or four walks a day with Ado. For so long I would go out for five mile walks at a fast pace, or I would cycle for 30 miles just to burn the calories. Now, I don't feel the need to burn calories because I know what I'm eating isn't calorie dense. I can eat a lot of these foods and not consume a ton of calories.

Tomorrow: fall begins! I am so looking forward to fall and all that is a part of it. I had intended to get some mums and pumpkins over the weekend, but I ended up just hanging out here, enjoying a couple of books I have (which I'm almost done with :( ) and working in the quiet. 

Enjoying all that is enough.