Concateknit

Stories from a weight loss journey

Those of you who have been reading for a while now (and thank you for that) know that I have always struggled with my weight. After Mike and I got married in 2006 and especially in the time leading up to our move to California in 2007, I steadily put back on the weight that I had lost leading up to the wedding (and then some. and then some more.)

I started working at my present company in September 2007 and I weighed more than I have ever weighed in my whole life. I was *thisclose* to not being able to buy clothes in my favorite stores. Nothing fit. I felt horrible in every outfit I tried on. We bought an elliptical machine and it sat, unused, a very expensive dust gathering machine.

I didn't really do anything about my weight gain until the Spring of 2008, and by the end of 2008 I had lost about 15 lbs. I was still heavier than I had been in Boston, but I was at least heading in the right direction. I lost and gained 5-7 of those 15 lbs at least a couple of times between last July and this Spring.

And then a friend of mine told me something that a friend of hers had said: If you want to be fit, you have to commit to it. It isn't something you can do half-assed.

That statement both rankled and resonated with me. Resonated because I knew it was true. Rankled because I didn't want it to be.

And then, as simple as it sounds, I made the decision to be fit. I made the decision to be accountable for my health every day, and I accepted the fact that I will not lose weight and keep weight off if I don't exercise (and unfortunately, walking the dogs just doesn't cut it). I started doing Pilates 6x/week, and I'm using that dusty elliptical machine 4, sometimes 5x/week in addition to walking the dogs every day and volunteering at ARF once a week (which is WORK, I tell you).

Since the day that I made that decision on March 23rd, I've lost 16.6 lbs, bring my total weight loss since Spring of 2008 to 31 lbs.

(March 23rd, 2009)

I fit into my size 10 jeans again (and I mean really fit - not Pretend Fit), I fit into my pink cordoroy pants. I seem to have shocked my body so much that I didn't even hardly stop at the size 12's - I went (really - I am not even making this up) from 14's to 10's within the span of about two weeks. My skin is better, I sleep better, I *feel* better, and I know that I look better. I am starting to feel like myself again because I'm not cranky all the time.

People - I have been VERY cranky.

Now? Now I feel more sassy than cranky.

Progress Shots:

January 31, 2008:

February 28, 2008:

April 22nd, 2009:

May 20, 2009

I have finally stopped over-complicating things and I've gotten out of my own way because ultimately it's very simple:  Being healthy requires a commitment to eating well and an active lifestyle.

For me, there is simply no other way to a healthy weight. Luckily I am finally on the right track.

Hi!

I know it's been a stupid long time since I've posted (I've been talking to you all in my head, but can never seem to put fingers to keyboard) so here's a little sampling of what's been going on at Casa Concateknit:

Spending time with my sweet girl, enjoying the sunshine.    

 

Relaxing in the backyard with Mike on Friday evenings, recapping our week and planning the weekend.

Participating (haphazardly) in the 365 project over on Flickr.

Volunteering at ARF (pictured here with one of my favorite dogs, Eddie).

Making orange juice from the produce of my own orange trees.

And how have you been?

National Poetry Month

Beverly asked what our favorite poems are, and honestly, it's a tough question for me to answer. I'll post a few of my favorites during the month, but I thought I'd start with one of my favorite Leonard Cohen pieces Take This Longing. I think Cohen is one of only a few artists whose poetry reads as lyrics and whose lyrics read as poetry. Tell me if you agree:

Take This Longing

Many men have loved the bells
you fastened to the rein,
and everyone who wanted you
they found what they will always want again.
Your beauty lost to you yourself
just as it was lost to them.
Oh take this longing from my tongue,
whatever useless things these hands have done.
Let me see your beauty broken down
like you would do for one you love.

Your body like a searchlight
my poverty revealed,
I would like to try your charity
until you cry, "Now you must try my greed."
And everything depends upon
how near you sleep to me

Just take this longing from my tongue
all the lonely things my hands have done.
Let me see your beauty broken down
like you would do for one your love.

Hungry as an archway
through which the troops have passed,
I stand in ruins behind you,
with your winter clothes, your broken sandal straps.
I love to see you naked over there
especially from the back.

Oh take this longing from my tongue,
all the useless things my hands have done,
untie for me your hired blue gown,
like you would do for one that you love.

You're faithful to the better man,
I'm afraid that he left.
So let me judge your love affair
in this very room where I have sentenced
mine to death.
I'll even wear these old laurel leaves
that he's shaken from his head.

Just take this longing from my tongue,
all the useless things my hands have done,
let me see your beauty broken down,
like you would do for one you love.

Like you would do for one you love.

Hi!

It's been a little while, hasn't it?

The stupid thing is that I've had all kinds of things to chat with you about - nothing super major, but just lots of little things that I keep thinking I should share with the blog and then...I don't. But see, that's just stupid, so let's fix it, shall we?

I went to Stitches West last month and Mike and I took the puppers and made a little vacation out of it. I think I took exactly...0 pictures, but believe me, we had fun. We ate dinner outdoors, we went to our favorite taqueria in the universe, we had fun walks, Allie & Zorro were admired by all (even by the San Jose Police, which is saying something), we had coffee and bagels at one of my favorite coffee shops, and like I said, we had fun. Allie & Zorro are really great travelers (Allie is actually better than Zorro is, which is surprising) and I love introducing them to new places. So. Much. Fun.

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but while I'm not on a stash enhancement diet or anything like that, I am trying to make sensible decisions about what I buy. To that end, I've instituted an "I can only buy half as much as what I use" rule. Which means that between January 1 and Stitches, I knit approximately 1,200 yards of FOs and spun approximately 24 oz of fiber into finished yarn. At Stitches, I was able to purchase 600 yards of yarn and 12 oz of fiber. The thing that ended up being really cool about that decision was that I really love the stuff I purchased and I spent all day deciding what yarn/fiber was special enough to purchase. I ended up buying:

Tactile Fiber Naturally Dyed Superwash BFL.
2 skeins in colorway Pomegranate, 2 ounces each
1 skein in Lichen, 2 ounces.

Abstract Fiber
Hand Dyed 70% Alpaca/30% Silk
Colorway: Rainbow
4 ounces.
Purchased at Abstract Fiber at Stitches West 2009.

Miss Babs 80% Merino Wool/20% Tussah Silk Top.
2 Ounces
Colorway: Chocolate Roses

timiQuipa 100% Baby Alpaca
164 yards
Fingering weight.
Colorway: 74995

Miss Babs Yummy Hand-Painted Sock & Baby 2 Ply Superwash Merino Wool
Approximately 400 yards
Colorway: Chocolate Roses

Now, the goal of this new rule of mine isn't as much about not spending money as much as it is about being deliberate with the money I do spend. I have a tendency to lose my brain and just buy, buy, buy at these shows, and most often I end up buying yarn or fiber that aren't quite right for me for various reasons. The happy by-product of my new rule for stash enhancement is that at the end of the year I will have less than I started with, but the quality of what I have will be better.

I'll also have a heck of a lot more to show for my knitting, but that's a subject for another post.

And you? How are you doing?

And the Winners Are!

Yarn Grab Bag #1: Carrie!

Yarn Grab Bag #2: Kim!

Fiber Grab Bag: Kristen!

Knitwhits Felted Toy Kit: Kristen!

Chevron Cowl Kit: Beverly!

And the grand prize of a Tiny Painting is Nancy!

I'll be emailing you all in the next day to get your snail mail addresses so I can get your prizes out to you. Thank you to everyone who donated to ARF - every dollar you donated makes a difference and was greatly appreciated in the ARF offices.

Last Chance to Win!

Today is the final day for my raffle to benefit Animal Rescue of Fresno! The drawing will be held at 6:30PM PST tonight (Kim will draw the winners).

Every $5 you donate to Animal Rescue of Fresno gets you one chance in the drawing.

The prizes are: Two yarn grab bags, a fiber grab bag, a Knitwhits felted toy kit, the Chevron Cowl kit, and the grand prize is a Tiny Painting of your own!

Wouldn't you like some?

To enter, simply donate here.

I'll give the dogs at ARF some extra pets for you, too. :)

For the Dogs

Claudia posted recently about discretionary spending, and asked a thought provoking question wondering what would be the last thing her readers gave up if it came the time eliminate discretionary spending. Unsurprisingly, there was a lively and thoughtful discussion in her comments, and it was really interesting to see what things people really valued in their discretionary spending. The people who talked about the fact that they’d go without before they gave up their companion animals really spoke to me.

At ARF, we’ve seen an upswing in the number of dogs who are owner surrendered – folks who are moving but can’t take their pets with them or who say they just can’t afford to keep their pets in this economy.

And I’ll admit that it’s likely that I am (more than) a little cynical. Because, really, what does it cost to feed a 5 lb

Chihuahua

? I buy my dogs Ultra Premium food, and feeding both of them costs easily under $20 a month. Certainly there are other expenses associated with owning Allie and Zorro. Allie is on two daily maintenance medicines which cost about $25/month, and their preventative treatments and regular vet visits certainly cost SOMETHING. But the thing is, when we made the decision to adopt Allie and Zorro, we were also making the decision that they were not, nor would they ever be, discretionary. Both of my dogs are rescue dogs – they didn’t end up there because they had fabulous lives before I came along. They ended up in shelters because something had gone awry in their lives, and when we took them home, we promised that we’d be the final stop for them. Almost two years later, I can’t imagine not having either of my dogs in my life, and in hard times, my dogs are what keep me going, get me up in the morning, keep me putting one foot in front of the other when what I’d really like to do is hide and wallow. My dogs are an integral part of my quality of life, and my quality of life is not discretionary.

When a 10 year old dog ends up in a shelter, my heart breaks, and I can’t help but wonder how you let go of a dog that’s been a member of your family for that long. I do know that there are absolutely cases where people find themselves in a position unable to keep their pet. I know that those situations happen, and that they are heartbreaking for everyone involved. It’s just that it feels a little too easy now for people to say “oh – the economy” and just like that, a former family member finds himself in a shelter.

With the upswing of owner surrendered pets, shelters nationwide are feeling the crunch. ARF is a volunteer run organization (there is not a single paid position on staff) and saves as many dogs as it does from donations it receives. In February, ARF placed 39 dogs in forever homes. I was lucky enough to know all of those dogs. Some of the ARF dogs break my heart, some of them are goofy, some of them are whip smart, some of them have a long way to go before they’ll be balanced family members again, but all of them deserve their second (and sometimes third and sometimes fourth) chance at happiness.

If you have a few extra dollars, take a minute to donate to ARF. Every $5 gets you into the raffle (drawing to be held this Saturday, March 7^th) and you have a chance to win some great prizes! This past weekend I was lucky enough to go to Stitches West and I picked up a few more fun prizes to the raffle:

 

A Knitwhits felted toy kit!

Chevron Cowl kit (yarn is baby alpaca and is AWESOME)!

Once you’ve made your donation to ARF, let me know how many raffle tickets you need either in the comments or by sending me an email to concateknit at gmail dot com. Let’s let the dogs know that we don’t think they're discretionary.

 

National Elisa Thinks It's Time for a Little Fun Day

Suffice it to say, work is totally kicking my ass. When I initially chose the month of February to do NETSM, February did not always kick my ass, but now?

February. Totally. Kicks. My. Ass.

So. Let's do something fun today. A raffle maybe? With some super fun prizes perhaps? And one very awesome prize? And maybe another? Yes, I think that's a great idea. Let's do that.

Here are the details: As you know, I've been volunteering at Animal Rescue of Fresno for the past couple of months, and people - I feel like I've found my niche. ARF has already become like a second home to me and I love the people, I love the dogs, and I love the work. It's rewarding in a way I could never have imagined.

ARF is an all volunteer run organization, and the work they do is tremendous. They've got strong support in the community, but everyone is suffering right now, and when our rescue organizations suffer ultimately it's the animals that suffer. So, let's have a wee little raffle and see if we can't drum up a bit of support for ARF, okay?

So - we're going to have a raffle! Yay!

1) The raffle will go until March 8th, the day I am taking Kim out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. Together, she and I will draw the winners of the raffle.

2) You'll need to make a donation to ARF. They're online direct donation button is down right now (I'll update when the link is back up) but you can still send them a donation via Paypal. Just go to Paypal, select "Send Money" and make a donation to canine@arf-fresno.com.

3) The amount you donate will determine the number of entries you have in the raffle. You'll get 1 entry for every $5 you donate.

4) You'll need to let me know that you've donated, because there's no real way for me to know otherwise. If you want to, you can just leave your donation amount in the comments, or, if you would prefer, send me an email at concateknit at gmail dot com letting me know the number of raffle tickets you've purchased, and I'll add you to the list.

And now, the prizes!

There will be two grab bags, each of which I guarantee will have no less than $40 worth of yarn in it. In all likelihood, there will be more than $40 worth of yarn in each grab bag, but I am comfortable guaranteeing at least $40.

There will be one fiber grab bag, which I also guarantee will have no less than $40 worth of fiber.

But my most favorite raffle prize of all is this: A Tiny Painting, donated by nrlois. You can choose a random portrait, or you can have a custom portrait made. The quality and the charm of these paintings is exceptional.   

Best of all, of course, you're going to help out some wonderful dogs and a wonderful organization.

In advance I say thanks. :)

National Flogic Day

It's hard to believe it's been a year since we last talked about flogic. You'd think that I'd keep a little list or something of the flogical things I've done since last February, but really, I just don't want that kind of evidence hanging around for anyone to find.

Which of course means that I've forgotten (shut UP - I did TOO forget) the best examples of flogic. I do have a sweet little flogical story to share with you that happened just recently.

In my work, I do a lot of editing, and my boss and I edit each others' stuff on a pretty regular basis. It's one of the parts of my job that I really like, actually. I am much better at editing than I am creating.

Anyway - she called me over to her desk to read something that she had written, and I started to read it out loud (because that's the easiest way for me to tell if it's right, by listening to how it sounds) and she said "You can't read it out loud because I have to read it too, and I won't be able to concentrate if you're reading it out loud).

My response?

Without even thinking about it, I stuck my fingers in my ears and read to myself.

Because apparently I felt that sticking my fingers in my ears was the appropriate response.

Flogic. I haz it.

What flogical things have you done recently?

Flogical action recreated tonight while catching up on my bloglines feed.

National Bossy Day

For years now, I've believed that I am a very easy-going person. That I am content to let people have their own opinions, that sometimes it's difficult for me to take a side because I can, too easily, see both sides of an argument, and that I am really a live and let live kind of gal.

Turns out, I was wrong.

It started innocently enough. I found myself starting a lot of sentences with "No, actually..." or "I can understand how you'd think that, but..." or "I think it would work better if...". Then I started saying things like "Well, if I were the boss of it..." or "That's the reason I should be the boss of everything".

Apparently, at some point, I developed opinions.

That's right - I have an opinion, and I'm not afraid to share it!

On just about every topic imaginable.

Don't MAKE me tell you to get ripe.

I'm not *exactly* sure when it happened, except it must have happened while I was in Boston. I know for shit sure that I did not possess this spine before I left for Boston in 2000 (I admit I may have been thinking that I should be the boss of everything back then, but I sure know that I wouldn't have said it out loud) so it can only be that at some point during my professional career at Big Non-Profit Cancer Hospital (BNPCH) I started sharing my opinions (and by opinions, I mean, the details about why I am right).

And now I think the train has left the station and I feel a little sorry for anyone who has to have an IRL conversation with me.

I'm working hard to reign it in a little - I'm deciding on the topics I think it's okay to be abrasive about (should the situation warrant it) or blunt about, and I'm trying to accept that there are situations where it's better for me to just keep my big ol' mouth closed.

Man, keeping my opinions to myself is hard.

Because...and here's the really tough embarrassing part...

Mostly, I think I'm right.

And mostly, I think that the world would run better if I was the boss of it.

Plus, I just kind of like saying that I should be the boss of things. Ahem.

But, the fact is, that the sudden onset of opinions and bossiness has become apparent as contrasted with my very non-bossy Californian co-workers. It's like, I know I'm from California, but I seem to have bought a fair share of Boston back here with me.

In part, it's because I could start a sentence in Boston with "No, actually..." and the person I was talking to was just as likely to say the same thing right back to me. Here, I say something contrary and my co-workers laugh at me and call me bossy.

No, really...they do. Including my boss. And the scary thing is, they are totally right.

So, I'm trying to reform my bossy ways and as I mentioned above, develop a list of things I think it's okay to be bossy about. But the fact is, I've apparently grown a bossy bone, and it's not likely to go away. The fact that I live with two bossy dogs (both of my dogs have bossy bones, too, and would like you to stop reading and pet them right now kthxbai) and a bossy husband (he's totally bossy, too, and he knows it) means that I've got to be able to hold my own or risk being totally crushed under the heavy weight of bossiness in my house.

As much as there is a part of me that is truly horrified by the fact that I've become this crazy, bossy, opinionated, opposite of laid back broad, there's also a part of me that can't believe that it's ME that says the stuff I say. I mean - me? A bossy broad? There's something a little awesome about that.

So even though I am kind of outing myself about my bossy ways, I'm also celebrating them. Because having an opinion and being willing to put it out there does allow for the possibility of honest discourse and I know that I've spent many years and countless conversations seething but not saying what I felt.

So, Happy National Bossy Day! Are you bossy? If so, how does your bossiness find its outlet?

Bossy. I haz it.