Monday, January 30, 2006
Well, the good news is that I got on the scales this morning and saw a loss. The bad news is I’m sure that I’ve lost lean body mass as I haven’t been lifting weights at all. I didn’t take my body fat measurement but I probably will this week. My depression has been rearing its ugly head some and I’m sure that the lack of exercise and poor eating habits are contributing to that. The work situation doesn’t help either (see further down). It's a big ole catch-22...if I get depressed I don't want to exercise...if I don't exercise I get more depressed...Life's not fair.
SPINNING
On the spinning side, I started plying my orange singles this weekend. I used my ball winder to wind the singles and am 2 plying from that ball. It gives me quite a sense of accomplishment to get this yarn going again as it’s been sitting here on the wheel for I don’t even know how long. I plan to spin the red up next and then onto the TON of taupe color. I also need to find my Spin-Off magazine issue with the sweater pattern in it. I can’t get started on it in any case until I at least get SOME taupe spun up but I want to have that option when I get to that point!
KNITTING
An interesting knitting story. My youngest, Kasie, had tubes put in her ears this past Tuesday. While we were waiting for her to come back from the procedure, I was knitting on Mermaid. The doctor came in to tell us how things had gone and she immediately said, “You’re knitting a Mermaid!” Come to find out, she’s been knitting for as many years as I have and she is also currently knitting a Mermaid through a class our LYS is holding! Small world
. What with the kids and work and everything, I haven’t had time to get to our LYS for months and I didn’t even know they were doing a Mermaid class. Nice to know that great minds think alike!
I’m also trying to decide what my next knitting project will be. I could finish up the Tartan Jacket that I’ve started although that is a slow knit with the slip stitch pattern. I’m almost done with the back so it’s not like I’m just starting. But it might be nice to do something that would be quick and easy and let me see some progress immediately. I might decide to finish up the pair of Jawoll Jacquard
socks I have on needles right now as they always go quick, especially when that is the only thing I’m knitting. I can always use another pair of handknitted socks!
WORK
Work has just been a big stressful pain. We just got a new CEO whose main goal is to “whip us into shape” and basically sell us off. Translation: slash and burn, polish it up, sell it and run with the money before the buyers figure out what they have bought. While I made it through the first big round of layoffs, I’m not so sure about the multiple ones that are imminent. I know it doesn’t help to have a negative attitude, but after being in this corporate game for 16 years, you get to the point where you have to “call a spade a spade” as an old mentor friend of mine used to say. Granted, being an engineer doesn’t help me buy into all the political spin and BS; I’m used to facts and data. And I’m not saying that I’m not up for a challenge when it’s legitimate but just don’t think I’m stupid enough to believe all of the “rah rah” hype when I know that you’re just in it for the money which I’ll never see. The execs make poor business decisions and instead of fixing those mistakes, they lay off all the worker bees. They then expect those of us who are left to get the same amount of work done as before but now we have less people and have generally laid off or retired the expertise we had to do it. These executives and CEOs make millions on the backs of us who will probably never get to see a pension. Oh well, life’s not fair.
SPINNING
On the spinning side, I started plying my orange singles this weekend. I used my ball winder to wind the singles and am 2 plying from that ball. It gives me quite a sense of accomplishment to get this yarn going again as it’s been sitting here on the wheel for I don’t even know how long. I plan to spin the red up next and then onto the TON of taupe color. I also need to find my Spin-Off magazine issue with the sweater pattern in it. I can’t get started on it in any case until I at least get SOME taupe spun up but I want to have that option when I get to that point!
KNITTING
An interesting knitting story. My youngest, Kasie, had tubes put in her ears this past Tuesday. While we were waiting for her to come back from the procedure, I was knitting on Mermaid. The doctor came in to tell us how things had gone and she immediately said, “You’re knitting a Mermaid!” Come to find out, she’s been knitting for as many years as I have and she is also currently knitting a Mermaid through a class our LYS is holding! Small world
. What with the kids and work and everything, I haven’t had time to get to our LYS for months and I didn’t even know they were doing a Mermaid class. Nice to know that great minds think alike!I’m also trying to decide what my next knitting project will be. I could finish up the Tartan Jacket that I’ve started although that is a slow knit with the slip stitch pattern. I’m almost done with the back so it’s not like I’m just starting. But it might be nice to do something that would be quick and easy and let me see some progress immediately. I might decide to finish up the pair of Jawoll Jacquard
socks I have on needles right now as they always go quick, especially when that is the only thing I’m knitting. I can always use another pair of handknitted socks!WORK
Work has just been a big stressful pain. We just got a new CEO whose main goal is to “whip us into shape” and basically sell us off. Translation: slash and burn, polish it up, sell it and run with the money before the buyers figure out what they have bought. While I made it through the first big round of layoffs, I’m not so sure about the multiple ones that are imminent. I know it doesn’t help to have a negative attitude, but after being in this corporate game for 16 years, you get to the point where you have to “call a spade a spade” as an old mentor friend of mine used to say. Granted, being an engineer doesn’t help me buy into all the political spin and BS; I’m used to facts and data. And I’m not saying that I’m not up for a challenge when it’s legitimate but just don’t think I’m stupid enough to believe all of the “rah rah” hype when I know that you’re just in it for the money which I’ll never see. The execs make poor business decisions and instead of fixing those mistakes, they lay off all the worker bees. They then expect those of us who are left to get the same amount of work done as before but now we have less people and have generally laid off or retired the expertise we had to do it. These executives and CEOs make millions on the backs of us who will probably never get to see a pension. Oh well, life’s not fair.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Spinning
I finished spinning the orange singles last night for my Spin-Off 25th Anniversary sweater. Woo Hoo! My next step is to wind it off onto my noste and 2ply it. I will probably not get to that until Saturday night since I have to get the house clean tonight for Kelly's 5th birthday party tomorrow. I find that I have to do my plying in one session if possible...well, at least the winding off of the singles onto the noste. Although I might just pull out my ball winder and wind it using that instead. It will be a lot quicker I know and I could probably get that done tonight so I could start plying sooner. Hmmmmm...... I'm also a bit afraid that I spun the last part of this bobbin thinner than I had intended. Perhaps the long hiatus between spinning sessions contributed to that and I'll only really know once I start plying it.
Knitting
I continue to knit on Mermaid. I'm now past the middle back (it's knit from the left front around the back to the right front). I am hoping to finish this sweater by the end of February so I can still wear it for a while this winter. It's hard to believe that January is almost over! I keep thinking about what I'll pick up next to knit and I think that I'll have to go back to the Plaid Tartan Jacket and get that one finished. It's way too easy for me to think about all the other projects I want to start but I believe it's just better if I commit myself to just one major project and finish it in a more timely manner.
Fitness
In another aspect of my life, I haven't done any cardio in almost 2 weeks and no weight lifting in as long of a time or longer. Somehow I need to sit myself down and get my fitness goals in line again ala the BFFM (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) book. I'm feeling very fatigued again and I know it's not all due to me being sick recently. I know it's due a lot to the fact that I'm not exercising and keeping my metabolism up. You only get out of it what you put in it and right now, I'm not putting a lot into it....OK, I'm not putting ANYTHING into it.
I finished spinning the orange singles last night for my Spin-Off 25th Anniversary sweater. Woo Hoo! My next step is to wind it off onto my noste and 2ply it. I will probably not get to that until Saturday night since I have to get the house clean tonight for Kelly's 5th birthday party tomorrow. I find that I have to do my plying in one session if possible...well, at least the winding off of the singles onto the noste. Although I might just pull out my ball winder and wind it using that instead. It will be a lot quicker I know and I could probably get that done tonight so I could start plying sooner. Hmmmmm...... I'm also a bit afraid that I spun the last part of this bobbin thinner than I had intended. Perhaps the long hiatus between spinning sessions contributed to that and I'll only really know once I start plying it.
Knitting
I continue to knit on Mermaid. I'm now past the middle back (it's knit from the left front around the back to the right front). I am hoping to finish this sweater by the end of February so I can still wear it for a while this winter. It's hard to believe that January is almost over! I keep thinking about what I'll pick up next to knit and I think that I'll have to go back to the Plaid Tartan Jacket and get that one finished. It's way too easy for me to think about all the other projects I want to start but I believe it's just better if I commit myself to just one major project and finish it in a more timely manner.
Fitness
In another aspect of my life, I haven't done any cardio in almost 2 weeks and no weight lifting in as long of a time or longer. Somehow I need to sit myself down and get my fitness goals in line again ala the BFFM (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) book. I'm feeling very fatigued again and I know it's not all due to me being sick recently. I know it's due a lot to the fact that I'm not exercising and keeping my metabolism up. You only get out of it what you put in it and right now, I'm not putting a lot into it....OK, I'm not putting ANYTHING into it.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Me and my whole family have been sick for the past 2 weeks and we're finally coming out of it. I have managed to re-establish my relationship with my Suzie Pro spinning wheel and have finally started to spin again on my Spin-Off 25th Anniversary sweater fiber. I have already spun up 3 of the colors...the light blue, the dark blue and the green, and am almost finished spinning up the orange color. I know there's at least red and tan to go...lots of tan as that's the primary color of the sweater!
Somewhere in all my fiber mess is the magazine with the pattern in it. I'm just not sure exactly where it is right now. Luckily I didn't lose my post-it note with my spinning numbers on it. I count treadles and have my treadle count per 10" of draw along with my whorl settings on it. Well more later. Hopefully, I'll be writing in to say that I finished the orange and have started on the red!
Somewhere in all my fiber mess is the magazine with the pattern in it. I'm just not sure exactly where it is right now. Luckily I didn't lose my post-it note with my spinning numbers on it. I count treadles and have my treadle count per 10" of draw along with my whorl settings on it. Well more later. Hopefully, I'll be writing in to say that I finished the orange and have started on the red!
Friday, January 06, 2006
Today I'm talking about knitting and working out. Since I tend to blog about all different kinds of things, I'll try to organize my posts a bit better.
Knitting
I'm continuing to work on Mermaid. I find my mind keeps wandering to other projects, wanting to start or continue knitting on those, but I'm trying to stay disciplined to this one for right now. I'm in a definite mode of wanting to reduce my stash by using it. I think I'm going to have to crank up my knitting machines to try and work through all the tubs of yarn!
As I was digging through some of my stash recently, I have GREAT sock yarn (and lots of it). I really enjoy wearing my handknit socks, especially during the cold months, and I don't think you can ever have too many pair!
Working Out
Since I had worked out with weights yesterday, I decided to do just cardio today. After I picked up the girls at the end of the workday from daycare, I knew that I just didn't want to face getting on the treadmill. So I decided to pull out some of the myriad workout DVDs that I have collected over the years. The one I decided on was Leslie Sansone's "Walk Away the Pounds", the 2 Mile walk. I knew that I could get Kelly involved with me and was hoping that it would keep Kasie occupied long enough for me to at least burn a few calories. I'll have to say that I really love this workout. It's just a straight, basic, no-nonsense workout that doesn't require anything fancy and doesn't require you to be a Juliard trained dancer. Of course, I only could get about 0.75 miles done before Kasie began melting down. But something is better than nothing!
My outer chest pecs were quite sore today. I knew that I had hit them good yesterday with those 4 sets of bench presses, followed up with the flys. I also got back into my weekly weigh-in routine this morning. It's amazing how my body just stops doing ANYTHING when I haven't been exercising like I should. I'm a definite endomorph (I hold onto the fat) and I know that I need to bump up the cardio and get back into intervals. But one step at a time and I just need to stay focused on my goal of 20% body fat by March 1.
Knitting
I'm continuing to work on Mermaid. I find my mind keeps wandering to other projects, wanting to start or continue knitting on those, but I'm trying to stay disciplined to this one for right now. I'm in a definite mode of wanting to reduce my stash by using it. I think I'm going to have to crank up my knitting machines to try and work through all the tubs of yarn!
As I was digging through some of my stash recently, I have GREAT sock yarn (and lots of it). I really enjoy wearing my handknit socks, especially during the cold months, and I don't think you can ever have too many pair!
Working Out
Since I had worked out with weights yesterday, I decided to do just cardio today. After I picked up the girls at the end of the workday from daycare, I knew that I just didn't want to face getting on the treadmill. So I decided to pull out some of the myriad workout DVDs that I have collected over the years. The one I decided on was Leslie Sansone's "Walk Away the Pounds", the 2 Mile walk. I knew that I could get Kelly involved with me and was hoping that it would keep Kasie occupied long enough for me to at least burn a few calories. I'll have to say that I really love this workout. It's just a straight, basic, no-nonsense workout that doesn't require anything fancy and doesn't require you to be a Juliard trained dancer. Of course, I only could get about 0.75 miles done before Kasie began melting down. But something is better than nothing!
My outer chest pecs were quite sore today. I knew that I had hit them good yesterday with those 4 sets of bench presses, followed up with the flys. I also got back into my weekly weigh-in routine this morning. It's amazing how my body just stops doing ANYTHING when I haven't been exercising like I should. I'm a definite endomorph (I hold onto the fat) and I know that I need to bump up the cardio and get back into intervals. But one step at a time and I just need to stay focused on my goal of 20% body fat by March 1.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Treadmill w/u 5min
Phase 2, Week 6, Workout 3
Weights (60 sec rest between sets)
CHEST
Bench Press Bowflex
15x40#
8x60#
6x60#
4x60# (trying for 6 reps)
Flys Bowflex
10x30# x 2 sets
SHOULDERS
Upright Row Dumbbell
12x10# each hand
12x5# each hand
supersetted with...
Bent Over Lateral Raise Dumbbell
12x5# each hand x 2 sets
TRICEPS
Bench Dip
7 reps, 6 reps (was trying to do 10 reps)
ABS
Crunches
23, 9, 8 reps
Phase 2, Week 6, Workout 3
Weights (60 sec rest between sets)
CHEST
Bench Press Bowflex
15x40#
8x60#
6x60#
4x60# (trying for 6 reps)
Flys Bowflex
10x30# x 2 sets
SHOULDERS
Upright Row Dumbbell
12x10# each hand
12x5# each hand
supersetted with...
Bent Over Lateral Raise Dumbbell
12x5# each hand x 2 sets
TRICEPS
Bench Dip
7 reps, 6 reps (was trying to do 10 reps)
ABS
Crunches
23, 9, 8 reps
Well, it's 2006 already. Christmas was a blast and I did tons of knitting on my Mermaid sweater. I really gotta get the camera pix uploaded here soon. Anyway, I think it's time to try and join back to the knitting rings again. I haven't participated in those rings for several years and I feel a bit out of the loop.
Went through a massive layoff at work in early December...luckily I didn't get cut, but a good friend did. Quite an emotional time...very stressful...made me rethink the whole corporate world thing. Anyway...
Mermaid is an engaging knit, but it does seem to take forever with the tons of garter stitch. It's a fabulous mindless knitting project while I'm watching TV or watching Mike play XBOX360. Not a lot to remember either so I can put it down mid row without worry of forgetting where I am. Since it's knit from the left front all the way around to the right front, it DEFINITELY seems to take forever. Anyway, I'm almost to the mid back now...about 3/4 way from the left underarm to the mid back.
I managed to gain a pound over the holidays and saw my fat percentage go up some. It's been hard trying to get back into my workout routine. Setting those goals last summer really helped me keep laser focus and make progress and I'm really going to have to do that again. I did manage to get on the treadmill Tuesday night, but Kasie only let me stay on 10 minutes before she melted down into a "mama, mama" hold-me type fit. Ahhh, the joys of a 17 month old. I slept in so much over the holidays that it's been murder trying to get up in time to even make it to work fashionable late, much less getting up early enough to work out!
Went through a massive layoff at work in early December...luckily I didn't get cut, but a good friend did. Quite an emotional time...very stressful...made me rethink the whole corporate world thing. Anyway...
Mermaid is an engaging knit, but it does seem to take forever with the tons of garter stitch. It's a fabulous mindless knitting project while I'm watching TV or watching Mike play XBOX360. Not a lot to remember either so I can put it down mid row without worry of forgetting where I am. Since it's knit from the left front all the way around to the right front, it DEFINITELY seems to take forever. Anyway, I'm almost to the mid back now...about 3/4 way from the left underarm to the mid back.
I managed to gain a pound over the holidays and saw my fat percentage go up some. It's been hard trying to get back into my workout routine. Setting those goals last summer really helped me keep laser focus and make progress and I'm really going to have to do that again. I did manage to get on the treadmill Tuesday night, but Kasie only let me stay on 10 minutes before she melted down into a "mama, mama" hold-me type fit. Ahhh, the joys of a 17 month old. I slept in so much over the holidays that it's been murder trying to get up in time to even make it to work fashionable late, much less getting up early enough to work out!