Eleven

My first blog post, on my old blog, happened January 10, 2006. I've now been a blogger for 11 years, and if you look at the photo posted then, I honestly don't look a whole lot different now.

So that's depressing!

Possibly I need to accept that brief periods of normal weight will happen occasionally, but that I'm destined to carry extra poundage until I've taken my last breath. Possibly.

Actually, I'll keep trying and I'll keep posting and I'll keep trying to figure it out.

But seriously … in 11 years I haven't figured it out yet? Sheesh.

Anyway, if you've been here from the beginning (and I think a couple of you have), thanks. You've witnessed three marriages (mine, my son's, and my husband's son's), the births of five of our grandchildren, and the death of my father.

You've been patient as I natter on about food and workouts and half-marathon training (those were the days!) and politics and society and gardening and knitting and the weather. Boy oh boy, have we had some weather.

I'm grateful for you, for your patience, for your friendship … and I'm truly grateful for technology, which has expanded my world immeasurably and wonderfully.

Thank you.

So I was busy

And now I'm not quite so busy.

I'll probably get busy again, but I missed writing and I missed connecting and I missed having a place to record both the mundane and the important things going on here in the Middle of Nowhere. So I'm going to do my best to stick with ye olde blogger again. Maybe not every single damned day, but most days.

Many bad things have happened since I've been gone. Democrat asses got kicked in the election; the Republican-controlled West Virginia legislative agenda was quite business-friendly, after they campaigned on jobs, jobs, jobs; winter sucked – I mean sucked!, and my Buddha belly is back.

So sad.

But. Good things await.

A Whole30 a couple years ago kicked my weight loss efforts into high gear, and I'm doing it again. (I started that one April 6, 2013, stuck with it for several months, and have been on-again/off-again ever since.)

Not only do I look better when I ditch grains/legumes/dairy/sugar, I feel better, and the older I get the more important it is that I feel good. Not just okay. Not just not in pain. I want and need to feel GOOD.

I set a goal at the end of last year to walk 100 miles/month, and while I'm a little bit behind that pace, better weather will equal increased mileage and I'm confident I can make it. January and March were fine – right on target, so direct (bonus points if you can name that tune) – but February? Not so much.

The Whole30 rules have changed a little bit. You can eat all kinds of potatoes now; you're not limited to sweet potatoes only. That'll be nice when I make beef stew, but I really like sweet potatoes and I do think they're more nutritious and have less impact on blood sugar. But I'm not a doctor/scientist/nutritionist … just an informed, lifelong dieter who reads a lot.

At any rate … the first day is going great! Scrambled eggs with salsa and a cinnamon-sprinkled chopped apple, "baked" in the microwave. Grok never had it so good.

I need to get to work on a freelance project that's been keeping me busy. This is the last day for putting it together; it goes to the printer tomorrow. I will then feel well and truly out from under the stress of too-many-projects, not-enough-time.

It's good to be back. Thanks for reading.

Surprise! I'm not dead!

A short post this evening, to ease back into semi-regular updates.

My life has been super busy this year, mostly with political interests. West Virginia's legislature meets for 60 days each year, beginning in early January. As a member of the social media committee for my state Federation of Democratic Women, I spent a lot of time tweeting and Facebooking and blogging about bills and resolutions and issues, oh my.

About the time the session was winding down, a freelance job - an annual report for a local non-profit - fired up, and it will be finished up tomorrow.

Which means I'm back to regular, timely, personal blogging  day after tomorrow.

No fooling.

It figures …

So. The day I post about not posting as much, I get an e-mail announcing one of my previous posts is going to be featured on BlogHer.

So if you're visiting from that link, welcome! I used to post every day but life has been getting in the way. And that post about Facebook connecting me with the outside world? Well, my connections with the outside world are keeping me Too. Busy. To. Blog.

At least to blog as much as I used to. Heh.

But it's all good.

Getting back on the nutrition-and-exercise horse is going well so far. I had the opportunity yesterday to fall into a pan of free pepperoni rolls, but I resisted. There was cake, too, which I also resisted. The meeting I went to was mid-afternoon, not one of my usual eating times. I had a couple meatballs, because I was a little hungry, but instead of dwelling on what I couldn't have, I enjoyed what I could.

Aaaaand … I took a walk yesterday morning before I went to the meeting. So, yay me!

Congressman Nick Rahall (WV-03) rallying the
troops at a Democratic strategy session in Beckley.
He'd done so much for southern WV and we can't
afford to lose his experience and seniority.

The strategy session was all about GOTV – get out the vote – and we were somewhat astonished to learn that Democratic women is the voter group that had dropped most dramatically from 2010 to 2012. We need to find those women and learn why they're no longer interested in the process.

And then get them interested again.

It's a challenge, but one I'm up for. It's probably happening where you live, as well. If so, I hope you'll share your ideas, plans and successes in getting women to vote and in getting Democrats to vote for Democrats.

'Cause I gotta tell you – in a blue state turning red, it ain't easy.

Should I stay or should I go?

My blogging has been sporadic lately, and also banal, boring, uninspiring and did I say boring? It's not that those qualities have infused my life lately, but this isn't a tell-all blog. And there's a lot going on that is front-and-center in real life that I can't or won't share here.

Leaving me to write about:

• mileage goals
• weight-loss goals
• gardening goals

And little else.

I've taken long breaks before. The transition time from The Shrinking Knitter to this blog was a couple of weeks. (I actually thought it was a couple of months, but I just checked.) For the most part, though, I've been posting regularly for a long, long time, and daily for a couple of years.

It's that damned NaBloPoMo. I keep signing up, month after month, but quality suffers, eventually, when quantity takes precedence. Or perhaps there was never much quality in the first place.

The one goal I'm truly committed to is walking 1500 miles this year. I'm not quite a third of the way there – 457 after yesterday's eight-miler. We're 12 days into the second third of the year. I've finally gotten the required daily miles below 4.5. But I need to keep doing five or six a day to make up for the days I eventually won't get to log anything – travel days, weather days, sick days … they're out there, waiting.

At any rate, the daily photos will continue, but I'm rethinking writing daily just for the sake of writing. I'm definitely not signing up for June NaBloPoMo. It may be a while before I have anything worth sharing. Or I may be back tomorrow. Indecision rules.

In so many areas.

Another Monday …

As I predicted, I wasn't able to hold onto the magic number. But today's official weigh-in was only a half pound more than the one I saw last week. Meaning I'm 10.5 pounds from goal, 1.6 points from a normal BMI and oh-so-close to …

maintenance.

When you read blog posts written by people who've lost a lot of weight and kept it off, you get the idea that maintaining that loss is a matter of daily diligence. For them and for me, there's no done.

I've lost a significant amount of weight before. Twice before, as a matter of fact, followed by days/months/years of gaining it all back and then some. Should I ever think I'm different or special or unique in this regard, all I need to do is read a few blogs by those who have been there/done that. They're not hard to find.

Harder to find are those who've hit the magic number and stayed there. Usually they, too, have lost and gained and lost and gained. But then, somehow, they found the set of behaviors they needed to lose and NOT gain.

That's my quest. And it's not too early to begin thinking about it. Because I FOR SURE don't want to lather, rinse, repeat this year. (Although it has been pretty fun.)

I can be my own good example by framing my weight loss in terms of continuing to do a few simple-but-not-easy things, just as I do to stay sober. I've thought about treating weight loss as I do alcoholism, but always fell into the "you don't have to drink but you DO have to eat" trap.

Yes, I do have to eat. But I don't have to eat everything. And there are some things I shouldn't eat at all. This science experiment will never be over.

On that last point … I can never be grateful enough for the guidance and example of two women (they know who they are) who encouraged me to try something new without being pushy about it. They were willing to wait for me to have my own "I could have had a V-8" moment. Gingerzingi also is part of that group, with the added bonus of pointing out that, yes, actually, we are our own science experiments and it's better to embrace that idea, rather than fight it.

I was feeling pretty hopeless in October. It's only taken three lost pounds this month to give me the motivation to keep at it, and the confidence to know I can make it.

Yes, I can.

If you've got nothing to say, don't say it

The title of today's post explains yesterday's absence from blogland. I posted the photo to keep the NaBloPoMo streak going, but not much else seemed noteworthy enough to write it down.

Today, there are a couple things.

First, beneath the ad in the left sidebar are links to blog posts. I think BlogHer randomly throws them up there, and my posts have been featured several times. Not because they're so great, but because they get picked randomly, and I write a lot. The one that's up there now (it will change soon, they don't stay up for long) has the same title as one from 2012. And probably the same title as a hundred other bloggers on any random day.

Creative title FAIL!

Next, Denise commented on yesterday's photo, not about the photo but about finding a printout of an old, old, old, pre-Knit Run Repeat blog post, back when I was the Shrinking Knitter. Ah, those were the days. I'm so flattered that she printed something out and saved it. I'M IN PRINT! Heh. What's interesting is that the post was written a couple days after Christmas in 2007, and I talk about starting over the day after Christmas instead of on January 1. I wonder what I weighed then? Certainly it was less than what I do now.

So, how's that starting over on December 26 working for you, Shrinking Knitter?

And finally, Foursquare sent me an email all about a new feature that suggests places or events you might like, based on previous check-ins. I've always thought that feature should have been built in from Day One. Which is probably why I've never used it. I've had the app for a long time, but I don't think about checking in because, really, WHERE DO I GO? I did, however, check in today and learned that I joined Foursquare a year ago today.

How weird is that? I also got their NEWBIE badge – my first check-in!

So that wraps up the thoughts rattling around in my pretty little head this morning. I'm going to leave you with the photo I took on yesterday's walk. These walking photos are always hit or miss. Frequently the sun is shining so brightly I can't even see the screen on my phone. I literally point and shoot, hoping for the best. This one … the lighting, the composition, the dreamy quality of it … I just love it. And I wish you all had been walking with me, because it was four miles of babbling brooks and chirping birds, and you would have loved it, too.

One day feels like another …

at least when referring to BlogHer's NaBloPoMo. Today marks the end of the 2012 experience of publishing a blog post daily for the month of November. Many of those who participated will go back to posting regularly, but not daily. (Last month there were 510 entries added to BlogHer's list, this month there are more than 3200. And the day's just beginning.) I've managed to keep the daily drivel going since the beginning of November, 2011, missing only a couple of days but racking up 646 posts since 11/1/11.

Some posts were just photos, which is fine and it counts. But I gotta tell you that when I sit down every morning in front of this screen, I don't feel like I have to write something. I feel like I want to. Sometimes I want to write something two or even three times in one day.

I suppose it's because I live such an isolated life. Were it not for Barack Obama's decision to run for President in 2008, I wouldn't have much face-to-face contact with anyone. I've lived in West Virginia since 1997 and four years ago I still didn't have friends who weren't also my husband's (he was born here).

Thanks to my volunteering to elect the President to his first term, my husband now has friends who also are mine. And thanks to the President, I have a lot more to write about than just knitting and running and gardening and cooking. And crafting, but I haven't figured out a way to work that into the title of the blog. Heh.

So thank you, both of you, who have read and continue to read the words that flow through my fingertips from my heart to yours. Unless something crazy-exciting happens later today (as it did yesterday), by the time I tuck myself in tonight I will have posted 59 times this month. It would have been 60 – a word post and a photo post each day – but on one day the photo prompt fit what I was going to write about, and so I combined them. (My photo prompts come from Chantelle.)

(The tiny little OCD corner of my personality wants to publish three posts today to make that come out to a perfect two-posts-a-day finish. I WILL RESIST!)

Yesterday was a crafty day, indeed. I started putting the journals together and discovered that I needed to have an extra leaf on the first and last signatures* to glue to the inside front and back covers. So I spent much of the afternoon reprinting, resewing and reglueing. I took the opportunity to add an extra signature to each of the journals. They're all dried and ready for covers, and I should (crossing fingers) have photos of the finished gift tomorrow.

And after yammering on about making ceramic tile coasters, I ended up making Scrabble tile coasters. Not that I won't also make ceramic tile versions, but I had a bag of tiles from an old game just waiting to be made into something. My son and I play Scrabble with each other online, almost daily, so he's getting a set of four for Christmas.

Many (most?) of the Pinterest versions all have beverage words spelled out. I decided to personalize this set. One represents his native state, one his current home, one has the word RACK, plus three words of high-point Scrabble letters (WAVE, JIVE, QUIZ) and the fourth is a nod to his journalism career.

I still need to trim them out of the slab o' cork. But they are, essentially, done. I hope he likes them. They don't really look or function like a salt mill, which is what he asked for. I will also give him a Southern Season gift card. 'Cause Santa always brings what you ask for, right? Heh.

There are lots of "O"s and "I"s left in the tile bag. If I knew someone who spoke binary, I could probably make another set. But I have many more gifts to finish, and miles to go before I sleep.

 
*b. A large sheet printed with four or a multiple of four pages that when folded becomes a section of the book.

October 16 - Something you wrote

Something I wrote – and have been writing – for several years now.
Thanks for reading, you guys are the best!

Gotta go to work

I seriously don't know what's been happening to my mornings lately. I used to get up, check my e-mail, open Blogger and write a few paragraphs. I've only missed a few days (thank you, derecho) since I started doing NaBloPoMo. Sometimes my posts are simply placeholders, to keep the streak going. Sometimes I have REAL STUFF to say.

Thanks Jen and Vickie for your supportive comments yesterday. The women at the prison meeting last night were just as nice as they could be, and I ended up talking (not about dentures!) more than I usually do, without feeling embarrassed or awkward.

Eating is another matter entirely, and I have to go to a convention tomorrow through Sunday, which will definitely be awkward. But I bet I learn, as I have from you and as I did last night, that there are more denture-wearers out there than I know about right now.

And I bet it'll all turn out just fine.

Okay, off to work and a little shopping. I don't leave tomorrow until mid-afternoon. Not sure if I'll be updating through the weekend or not. Do I really want my roommate to know about my blog?

Do those of you who blog share your URL with face-to-face friends? A few of my local friends know about my secret writing life, but they don't read blogs regularly. Most everyone who stops by here is from far, far away. How about you?

So what does it take to be happy?

Most folks think they need something (or some things) to be happy. Those of you who've been reading my ramblings for a while probably think I'd be happy if I were able to achieve and maintain a normal weight. And I must admit, I'd be pretty happy if that were to happen.

But that doesn't mean I'm not happy now, most of the time.

Maybe being happy means, instead of having more whatever, we need to give something up. Read this and let me know what you think.

I read the list aloud to my husband and he said, "Well you already do all those things." And of course I violated one by pointing out another. Using negative self-talk, I said I'm prone to complaining.

Those of you who've been reading my ramblings for a while already knew about that one. I try not to JUST complain, though. I use this space to work things out, tease out a problem, try out solutions, come up with new ideas. And, of course, ask – sometimes – for your feedback. (Comments! Bloggers love comments!)

I live a fairly isolated life, although that's changed a great deal since the 2008 Presidential campaign. (I tell people I wouldn't have any friends if it weren't for President Obama. Heh.) If I'd had a BFF back in 2006, I might not ever have started a blog.

I'm glad things worked out the way they did, though. The blog has had its ups and downs and I've occasionally thought about quitting altogether. I've taken a couple short breaks, but I think the only way I could stop blogging now is if someone cut off my fingers.

Blogging daily has become such an entrenched habit, something I really look forward to. I wake up with an idea in my head, make coffee, let Hershey out, feed her and fire up the laptop. I check my e-mail, browse Facebook and open a blank Blogger page. Sometimes (like today) my idea goes out the window because I've found something on Facebook to share.

To be trite: At the end of the day, the bottom line is I'd be decidedly less happy if "giving up blogging" were on that list.

Thank you both for reading. AND COMMENTING! Heh.

Blogger's being cranky

I don't know what's been going on with Mr. Blogger this morning, but I've been trying to log in for about an hour and a half and this is the first time the template has opened. Let's see how much I can say in the next 15 minutes, because beginning at 8 a.m. I'm scheduled. Sigh.

Onions from the garden, destined for Kung Pao.

Our little dinner get-together went very well. As I think I mentioned, the local Chinese restaurant, um, SUCKS, so I made hot-and-sour soup, spring rolls and Kung Pao chicken. Except I used beef instead of chicken and I jazzed it up with lots of vegetables. I served brown rice, an item rarely seen in Asian eateries, at least it's rare here in the Middle of Nowhere.

My [purchased] fortune cookie said "You are on your way to perfection," or something like that. My fortune definitely got the biggest laugh. At our ages – 60 to 68 – we know there's no such thing.

Guess what I did for exercise yesterday. Go on, guess! Okay, I'll tell you. I j.o.g.g.e.d. It's been many moons since I've propelled my body at a speed greater than 3 mph, unless I've been on a treadmill. For some reason, I just felt like moving a little faster yesterday, and conditions were perfect: high 60s, low humidity, a simply gorgeous day. It reminded me so much of many days when I was training for a half-marathon.

The smartest way to pick up the pace is to run a little and then walk a little. I didn't stick to anything too strictly, though I tried to keep the intervals the same: two minutes jogging followed by two minutes walking, or 1/1s if I couldn't manage to jog for two minutes straight.

I had a lot of trouble the first half of the route (I turned around after 1.5 miles), but the last complete mile is all downhill (and now you know why that first part was so hard) and I jogged continuously for eight-tenths of it. My final average speed was 3.75 mph. I'm pretty happy with that.

It's hard to call what I did high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but I guess if the intervals vary in intensity it could at least be called highER intensity. What it really did was give me a huge sense of accomplishment early in the day and that feeling lasted all day long.

Tomorrow is the last day of March (duh) and my last day of daily blogging for a while. I'll probably go back to Monday through Friday, but I might even – gasp! – skip a weekday here and there once I start working. I've been posting daily for five months. I can hardly believe I've been able to maintain my streak.

But wait! I'm moving the daily photo post to this blog April 1! So I won't break my posting streak, just my writing streak. (My photo captions can hardly be called "writing.") Heh.

Okay, gotta go … if I don't make mozzarella RIGHT NOW, it will not be ready for the chicken pesto pizza we're having for dinner. The more time it has to chill, the easier it is to shred. Have a fabulous Friday!

Still bummed, but …

I know it's just information,
but it's too much information! Heh.

what's the alternative, really?

And how many times have I asked myself this question?

As the young folks say, it is what it is: I have a hard time losing weight, and that's a FACT. I would love, love, love to simply eat healthfully and exercise regularly, without needing the weight-loss reward at the end of it.

At the age of 60, am I too old to change this cycle?

I just read a couple articles on shopping habits. (The Forbes condensed version is here; the NYTimes Magazine longer article is here. Not sure how long the NYTimes link will be viable.) The author began his habit research because he'd developed a mid-afternoon cookie habit that resulted in some unwanted lard. He analyzed the cue-routine-reward circuit, changed the reward part and lost 21 pounds.

So simple. Sigh.

I'm not making excuses for myself, but just stating facts. The writer is:

1. a man and
2. younger than my children.

Those two facts are in his favor as far as weight loss goes. The fact that I'm an, ahem, older woman with an older woman metabolism is not helpful! Not helpful at all.

Back to the original question: What's the alternative? I've gradually but systematically been increasing weights, sets and reps at the gym. I'm doing some kind of cardio five or six days a week. The alternative this week will be going back to Phase I for a couple weeks.

If I didn't have such a lousy family history of obesity-related health issues, I might not care about losing weight so much. But as I've said here before, I don't want to end up dying early, as my mother did, or being in pain for the last 10 years of my life, as her mother and my father were. I'm not pre-diabetic (that I know of), but my dad, an aunt, my sister and two of our cousins were or are all Type 2s. I would hate to develop diabetes after all this work and effort to avoid it.

I love that a blog can be all about me-me-me. I can't express these feelings anywhere else. My husband is as supportive as anyone can be, but his BMI is normal, and when he gains a few pounds he's able to easily get rid of them. You guys have been my cheerleaders for such a long time, and I really appreciate your suggestions and sympathy.

I just don't want you to have to start sending get well e-cards. So I'll keep doing whatever it takes to save you the trouble.

The End.

If you were hoping I was referring to the end of the blog, you'll be disappointed.

No, no, no, rather it's the end of NaBloPoMo, you silly goose. (I'm channeling my four-year-old granddaughter. Heh.)

The hardest part of this exercise was not, surprisingly, coming up with new material every day. I suppose living in the Middle of Nowhere, having little face-to-face contact with others and having lots of time on my hands contributes to the ease with which I can fill a blog post. I will readily admit that I'm better at quantity than quality.

It takes a certain bit of ego to just write about whatever pops into one's little head and assume it will be interesting/entertaining/informative/not-boring to both of you who eventually read it. Or, it takes no ego at all, if you think no one is going to read it. My older granddaughter was extremely surprised to learn that I've kept a journal for years when we played WhooNu last month. Whether it's for myself or published to the world matters little.

Since January of 2006, when I started writing at Shrinking Knitter, I've published nearly 1500 posts. It's hard to still call it a weight-loss blog. Six years later it's more of a weight-management effort, with the emphasis on effort. Some days are better than others. Heck, some years are better than others!

Especially that first year. I posted progress photos every week. I kept a physical journal along with the blog, which I still have and which I haven't looked at in months. I lost a bunch of weight that first winter, then leveled off when I started running.

When I switched from SK to this blog, I added running to my list of topics; it was originally called Knit. Run. Repeat. As food growing and cooking started taking over, my good friend Marilyn suggested splitting the "Repeat" into "Reap. Eat." and the current incarnation was reborn. I like it this way, although I sometimes feel like an impostor because the "Run" part is, um, not so much any more.

Anyway. The hardest part was writing while I was traveling, and I traveled a bit more this year than I have in Novembers past. I try to write every weekday anyway, so adding weekends wasn't too much of a stretch.

At any rate, it's done. My first NaBloPoMo is in the books. During this month some crazy stuff has happened, some of which I haven't shared because it's not relevant or it's too personal. Some of the most personal stuff, though, is right there for the whole world to find. Tomorrow will be most likely be more of the same, and I thank you kindly for joining me.

A month of blogging

National Blog Posting Month begins today. How do the holidays sneak up on me like this!?!

This will be my first year participating in the exercise to publish a daily post for 30 days. Including weekends. I don't have much trouble, unless I'm busy or out of town, throwing a post up Monday through Friday, but I take the weekends off, for the most part. So this will be interesting.

I also will be traveling in November a couple of times, and being away from my own little computer space always throws me off. I have, in fact, been traveling today, which is why your usual dose of Knit. Run. Reap. Eat. sunshine didn't show up at dawn.

It's not too late if you want to join more than 1000 other regular bloggers in making a daily writing commitment. Clicking the link at the top of the page or the badge at the right will send you to the website where you can sign up. Saturday is the cut-off date to be included in the blogroll.

Should you get stuck for a topic, you can take advantage of a daily writing prompt on the website. I don't need it today, but I'm not going to ignore them, as I think these prompts will help expand my view and improve my writing.

I had planned to write a great post today about meeting another blogger, someone whose work I've admired for years. But we had to cancel our coffee date, and will try again another time when I'm in her neck of the woods. I love reading about meetings between bloggers. I'd hoped to include the ubiquitous arms'-length portrait, but you'll have to settle for a peek at her website.

My weekend was quite fun and jam-packed with candy-filled activities. Fortunately for me the princess bride likes candy as much as I do, and shared only what she really didn't care for. Twizzler, anyone? She kept the chocolate all to herself and I came away pretty much unscathed.

I have a day and a half to regroup and then I'm off again. Though some would say I've been off most of my life. Thanks for reading. One day down, 29 to go.