Progress

Crossfit this week was really good.

P and I started going to the 6:30am class. Its hard really getting moving that early.  First thing is to get food in the bod, prep for the workout to happen.  Sticking with easy oatmeal is nice.  Quick to get ready, add some berries and down it goes.  Next is getting my protein drink for after the WOD and water for during and after ready.

Then its a wait until needing to leave for class. 

On the Fourth, the whole family joined the class where we did Hotshots 19 in remembrance of  the Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighting team tragically lost their lives on June 30, 2013, while fighting a fire in Yarnell, Arizona. 

WOD

• Six rounds for time of:
• 30 Squats
• 135 pound Power clean, 19 reps
• 7 Strict Pull-ups
• Run 400 meters

I didnt go running, I did 400 meters on a rower and was on my 5th round of Power Cleans (55lbs) when time was called.  P just finished his 5th round, D finished all 6 while DL just started his 5th.  Great way to celebrate the day.

Ive been doing Crossfit for 6 months now and Ive lost ~8 inches.  Weight is more difficult to judge as Im making muscle while I know Im losing weight but so far its been an even score – which Im totally ok with.  I can feel clothes fitting better or looser

Too early?

P wanted to switch up when he did crossfit as the 4:30pm class was cutting in his day weird.

So this week we are doing a 6:30am class.

Getting up that early isnt bad for me.  Im usually up at 5am as the duo of chaos start demanding their morning food that early.  Now its thinking time.  Can I get food in my bod with enough time between eating and working out so I dont get a cramp?  Answer for today is yes.  Oatmeal (zombie brains) with blueberries made a perfect breakfast and one I could scarf down and give myself time before the workout.

Workout was good.  No hot or humid like its been during the afternoon class.  And now its done!  No more workout until tomorrow.

Socking

Not even close to the heel on socks I started last month, I started another pair over the weekend.  Im totally blaming D for this.  Went out to the dollar store for cleaning supplies and he asked if I was going to the yarn store.  Well hell wasnt planning on it but know its in my brain and must go!

I went to Craft Warehouse looking for one color, didnt find it but came home with Premier Vegas Lights

Wonderfully bright colors and screamed to be made into socks for a friend.

Knitting over vaca last month got me confident with my knitting and Im no longer tied to looking at everything I knit as I knit it and can now read (a sentence or 2) before having to look.  Knitting by touch – booya!

Personal

So Friday I joined D for the 4th day of Crossfit for the week.  Friday’s weight-lifting is deadlifts and strict press.  Its been forever since Ive done a deadlift as we never went to the Friday class at this particular box and I didnt know what my max for strict press was either so I spent time during class to find my one rep max so that next week I can work to do more than one rep close to that weight so I can pass it.

in Feb, I did a 105lb deadlift and that was hard.  Since then, working at this box, Ive been working on other weight lifting and my body as a whole is stronger.  As of Friday, my new one rep max for Deadlift is 205 lbs! 

The strict press is a bit more difficult for me due to a flu shot a couple years ago that hit a nerve.  Ive had movement issues with my right arm and because of that, getting my right arm straight while pressing a bar up with weights is a struggle.  That said, I was able to get 75 lbs lifted over my head a couple of times and now I have a goal to work towards.  More movements and recovery exercises will get the arm moving how it should some day.

Saturday I pampered myself with a massage.  60 min of getting muscles a bit back to happiness and boy was it worth it!  I can bend, sit, walk, move without my lower back making me pay for each bit.  Havent had a massage in months and may do this monthly just to say thank you to all my muscles for putting up with me placing them in the Cross fit world. 

Ugg

We had a week off from Crossfit thanks to a wonderful vacation at the beach.

Well we did try to do the metcon part of the WOD on Monday, did pretty good workout, but the winds the rest of the week were crazy and we were on vacation so didnt really push to do any part of workouts.

Bad adulting us.

Its Tuesday morning and Im already feeling yesterday's WOD in my legs.  Lots of squating thanks to wall balls and back squats.

I did make a PR for back squats, 100 lbs!  

Knitting

Not much knitting done yesterday.  Had bad restless leg syndrome issues after dinner.  Almost hurt to try and stay still.  The legs finally calmed down close to bed time (thank gods) and I was able to get a few rows in on my Spectrum shawl by Joji and found a new design element that Im just leaving in.  Im up to ~100 stitches a row and the new element is 6 rows back.  It doesnt impact the design too much and Im not tinking back that many rows to fix it.

Hello World - Again

Im still around, just havent been blogging for over a year.  

Ive been knitting and hanging out with family and got into Crossfit.

Knitting

Looking back at the blog, yes - I did finally make socks in 2016.  In fact since my first pair, Ive made 10 pairs of socks.  2 for gifts and the rest all mine.  Ive gone from making one sock at a time to two at a time (taat).  I prefer making taat as you get a pair of socks ready for wearing when you're done.  How cool is that?  Ive also dialed in to what is the perfect sock for me;  2.5 mm needles, using 2 circular needles (prefer Chaigoo to Addi but those two over all others atm), sock construction is always toe up, vanilla pattern (stockinette and boring) and the sock yarn needs to be at least 80% wool, 20% nylon. 

Socks are now my 'go to project that I dont have to do any thinking on and can just zone out'.  I always have at least 1 pair on needles and close by so I can pull them out for a few rows.  

Im almost shocked at the number of people wanting/expecting me to make them a pair.  Its worse than shawls.

Hand knit socks arent cheap.  The good yarn is ~$20+, then the pair takes a minimum of 2 weeks to complete and that is only if nothing else in life is going on and I have motivation to only work on socks.  So thats time cost in addition to the yarn.  For me the min I would charge is $50 a pair and the min time would be a month for completion.

Current socks Im working on:

Pattern: Sundae Socks by Shannon Squire
Yarn: Knitted Wit - Death to Sexism colorway

Non-sock projects are all shawls. I have yarn for sweaters but I have braining to do for those to make sure all the work done ends up with a item I can actually wear.  The one sweater I had on the needles for me has been frogged as I hated how it looked.  The fabric I was ending up with sucked.  I need to go down a needle size and make sure the yarn/stitch count works for the pattern.

Crossfit

D and I started working out with a plan late in 2016.  We wanted/needed a class where you werent just a number and you could reserve a spot for and not just first come last no working out for you today.  A place with structure and a plan to get you where you wanted to end up.

He came up with Crossfit and we went to a couple sessions and have been hooked.

I love it.  I get sorta stressed right before class.  Will I be able to complete the WOD (work out of the day) and/or without having an asthma attack (its happened once so far).  But after class and we are all home and gooey gross from the WOD I feel so pumped!

Its not just all weight lifting but that is part of the workout.  Its getting you moving and stronger and healthier.  Im not seeing much in the movement of the scale but I am getting more weight on my lifting and getting more WODs done without feeling like Im going to die.

We have the boys going to the same classes we take - its the only 'gym' they are getting and since they come with us I feel better they are getting some exercise.

April Challenge Finished

Final post for the April workout challenge.  This week I set goal:  Try and get as close to 28 miles as possible with having 2 days less than a full challenge week.

As of today, Ive walked 26.4 miles for exercise!

Im thanking the beautiful weather this strange spring has brought.  The wonderful sun pulls me in to getting out and moving so I try and get out for a minimum of a mile for lunch.  2 miles if I can squeeze it between meetings and have 30-40 min to spare.  Add to the pacing while waiting for trains and the three miles every morning and it all adds up.

Today’s 2 mile walk took me to the waterfront and the toddlers were out in force, playing in the sun and in the fountains and other fellow office dwellers were getting out running, walking and biking.  I love taking in these sights.

Total miles for April was 106.2

The May challenge is minutes exercised.  I will be using my Fitbit active min for that, a bit less tracking noise that way.  And I need new shoes

I have another success for April, I finished a thing!

Washington Park Shawl

And then I started another thing!

Nurmilintu shawl

Its wee in the pic but its growing fast. 

Week 16

Another wonderful workout week completed!  My goal this week was to at least match or go over the workout miles from last week.

I was pretty damn close - 28.16 miles for this week.

Im starting to feel changes, stomach tighter, thighs stronger, cheekbones showing more.  Now the long wait for the bod to start showing it in inches lost and lbs going down.

Im having to get up at 4am (yes FOUR A. M.) for the next couple of days.  We are down a vehicle and Im determined not to let that muck-up my current morning routine.  So Im up earlier so D can drop me off for the train to work and not be too late getting to his.  This should only be a few more days (Im hoping) but it does mean I get my butt to bed earlier.

In other projects; I am “thisclose” to being done with my RCYC shawl!  2.5 repeats and it will be ready for washing and blocking. 

I tried to get it finished today but the usual Sunday happenings took over (shopping, running around, dinner, getting breakfasts ready for the week).  And due to the change notice above, its almost bed time for me.

Hope to have a finish to dance about with next time

Workout Week 15

Week 15! And Ive gotten the lead out of my ass and working out much more.

The challenge for this month is walking.  The first full week was ok but I knew I could do much better than that.  Need to do better than what I was doing to get the weight gone.

The big question I had to make myself answer was  “Where to carve out the time I need during the day so I WILL get a workout done?”   

What I know is if I dont workout in the morning, the workout wont happen. Life happens, excuses happen, I will do it later happens - which all leads to NOTHING happening.

So I had to make a change and carve out more time in my morning.

I was getting to work early and ‘working out’ in the room in the building.  Nice that its there but I wasnt pushing myself hard because I didnt want to bring my everything to work (makeup et al) so I could work after working out.

So not pushing myself was just maintaining, not losing.  Something else had to change.

I made the decision last week to get up an extra 15 min early, do my workout at home - where I can push for all my might and get totally sweaty and have everything to get clean and ready for work.

Now 15 min may not seem like much but Im already up at 4:45am, every morning (life, family, etc).  Moving that to 4:30 does make an impact.  I have the effort to get to bed earlier - like 8:30/9pm, so I can be awake for my workout and still have the energy for the rest of the day.  

This week was hard.  Waking up at 4:30 actually wasnt too bad.  The duo of chaos actually helped a couple of mornings (and proceeded to run around the house like a herd of elephants while I worked out).  What killed me was the evening.  I was sooo tired that staying up until 8pm was a chore!

But I made it!  I didnt let myself get derailed.

Thanks for staying through the post this far.  Now for this week’s workouts:

Sunday - 3.85 miles

Monday - 4.57 miles

Tuesday - 4.27 miles

Wednesday - 5.22 miles

Thursday - 3 miles

Friday - 4.31 miles

Saturday - 3 miles

Total: 28.22

I do Leslie Sanson 3 mile walk every morning.  The extra bits are me getting out and walking during lunch during work or walking with the family. 

Zombie returns

This week marks Week 13 of workouts.  After my last post, I came down with a nasty cold that D shared.  While his went away as most colds should, mine morphed into full blown bronchitis.  Which with my past I took things easy and made sure lungs were well before starting back into any workouts.

This week I got back into the swing of things with a bang.  Instead of getting to work and changing for the gym, I dress for the gym.  One more excuse eliminated from the possible outcomes (no time to change).  And I get 5-10 extra minutes added to my workouts.

Im still taking things a bit slow as Ive been a total slacker during the last 6 mo or so.

Monday-Wed – Walking for 30 min

Thurs – can you believe a bad muscle spasm?  O M G!  Death I tell you!  Happened right as I was getting ready for the day – lucky I could get my panties on all by myself.  Anything dropped on the floor stayed there or I would get stuck.  I made it to work but wasn’t willing to work out so wasn’t dressed to workout.  Slow and easy people.

Friday – Back is still letting me know this whole working out thing is not part of its plan but damn it – Im the ruler here.  So off to the gym again today for 30 min.

Sat – no walking like I wanted.  Minion #2 (DL) is now 14 and the party involved 6 additional teenagers for a LAN party.  Oh boy the noise.  Still got a bunch of steps in running around as one tends to do with parties.

Other fun stuff than walking has been going on.

Looking back through this blog I see I havent shared anything about the pretty Im making.  A friend got me into making a mystery shawl.  It was for the Rose City Yarn Crawl and while I didn’t finish it time to wear it while we crawled Im still working on it and determining to finish it.  Im on the last part now and cant wait to be done.

So here is the timeline

2/9 – Just getting started (2/7)

2/18 – Close to finishing up the first part

3/15 – Finished up part one and two

3/22 – Showing part 3

3/26 – On to the final – Part 4

4/4 – Almost 1/2 way done with the final part

There’s nothing like jumping in to a new project where you know there are areas you have no knowledge of and at the end you have learned so much there is nothing to hold you back from flying ahead.

This Crawl marks 1 year since I started knitting and I cant believe Im here – making a shawl that has lace work in it and have two sweaters on needles and plans to make more lace-work shawls!

Im having so much fun!

Workout Week 5

A bet better this week. Slowly killing off the work projects so I can take my life back.

Sunday - 2.5 mile walk

Monday - nada

Tues - 1 hr

Wed - Friday - nada

Sat - 2.5 mile walk

Next Week’s Meal plan:

Most of the usual suspects.  Its easier for the minions to start dinner for these and heating up soup is a no brainer for those busy nights.  Easy for all.

Vegan stroganoff
Vegetarian chili mac
Zucchini Lasagna
Jambalaya and Clam Chowder 
Spinach-Potato Frittata
Tomato Quinoa Soup
Spinach Ravioli

Workout Week 4

Only workout this week was Sunday.  Big projects at work left hardly any extra time for eating and sleeping.  Suck part about that is it lowers my immunity and now Im fighting a cold. 

Sunday - 2.5 mile walk today..

Monday - Sat - no workouts

Next Week’s Meal plan:

Mostly the same plan as last week. Change to the fish soup as the vendor changed it and its not as good as it was.  Going to try a split-pea and see how that goes.

Also need to find something other than minestrone soup as minion 1 doesnt like it and waited long enough to share.  Something will come to mind during the week.

Vegan stroganoff
Vegetarian chili mac
Zucchini Lasagna
Split-pea soup and Clam Chowder
Spinach-Potato Frittata

Week 3 Workout

More on schedule with this week’s results even though fewer workouts were done.  Ive found more body-weight workouts to try that keep me mostly off the floor and I hope more willing to get them started and done.

 

Workout Week 3

Feeling a bit under the weather this week so the workouts were slim to none.  Hoping to get closer to human for next week.

Sunday - 2.5 mile walk today. Made it between rain showers - lucky me.

Monday - Thurs - I may have gotten 30 min total.  Not good :(

Friday - Better walking in the evening, Got 30 min in and another 3 miles total.

Sat - Total potato day

Next Week’s Meal plan:

Thanks to another busy work week and having a family that isnt overly picky Im keeping the same plan.

Vegan stroganoff
Vegetarian chili mac
Minestrone soup
Zucchini Lasagna
Fish Soup and Clam Chowder
Spinach-Potato Frittata

Week 2 workout

As this was my posting for last week, Im a bit late on posting my Week 2 workout.  But better than never  

Week 2

Hey peeps and welcome to week 2 of workouts.  

I feel better about how much I was able to include workouts in this weeks crazy schedule but also need to tell my inner voice that its ok to not push as hard to shut the hell up.

Meal planning is in week 3 and its been helpful working with the whole family when making dinners.  Planning on Sunday, getting the shopping list ready and then posting the meals on the kitchen white board.  Bonus is that the minions are of age to get dinners started so when I get home I can get right in to the main cooking or finishing.

Sunday - got a full 45 min in of walking today.  Was late but wonderful

Monday - loooong day at work but still came home and got 30 min in.  Called it early cause I needed to eat and get ready for Tues.

Tuesday - This week is going to be long day after long day.  I did get in 30 min of walking after work.  

Wed - My workout was running around from meeting to meeting this week.  Not sure how many steps but lots of running around.

Thurs - night off.  too tired to get my walk on.

Friday - made up for Thurs with a 4+ mile walk during lunch.  Beautiful day for it too.

Sat - this day was just for me and no workouts were accomplished.  I did get many wonderful and relaxing hrs of knitting in and spending time with good friends.  Perfect ending to the week

Next week’s evening meals (not in any order)

Vegan stroganoff
Vegetarian chili mac
Minestrone soup
Zucchini Lasagna
Fish Soup and Clam Chowder
Spinach-Potato Frittata

Week 1 workout

Ive joined mystoryfortheaudienceoftheworld for a gathering of like minds who are just getting off our collective asses and getting our moves on.  Not because its January or the beginning of a new year or <enter reason here> but because we want to, even need to.

I will add that it is January and in the Northern part of the globe it is cold (in some places cold as all get out) and moving gets a body warmer.  Which makes you happy and not as miserable.  Right?

So lets get on to how I did for week 1.

Week 1 didnt end up as I had hoped but it wasnt a total loss because I did get some workouts in.

As I was on vacation at the beginning of the week, I was keeping the LAZY-on going.  But that was going to change on Tues

Tues - I got to work early (there is a small gym in the building) and got working on the weights and then treadmill.  Total time 1:15 and I felt great

Wed - Late getting to work so I was only able to get to the treadmill.  I got out of the office for a short walk with a friend as a get off your butt excersize  Total time 45 min,   

Thurs - Another late day but the workout on the treadmill keeps me going for the day.  Total time 30 min (my legs are noticing it and not happy with the changes going on!)

Friday - Didnt make it into the gym at all but did walk around town at lunch.  Total time 30 min

Sat - Very lazy day and spent the time knitting :)

I need to find my Fitbit and get it recharged.  It was a victim of my vacation and I believe in pout mode somewhere in the house.

My goal for this next week is to get with YouTube and do Leslie Sansone 3 mile walk every night after work, regardless of how late it is.  Its a 45 min workout that always makes me sweat.

Bah, Excuses!

 

I had perfect excuses going on this morning.  It was late (after 8am), had a late start and much to get done.  Farmers market was high on the list and a possible breakfast out.  Oh and walking with Leslie and getting the monthly challenge items done for today,

I started telling myself that I would get the challenge items done now and do the walk later.

We all know what would have happened.  No Walk.  I knew it.  Every time that side of me tried talking be through all that needed to be done, Do the walk Later, walk later.  Just do it later.

So I took charge, got changed and got my walk on. Earned my shower!

So I was a bit late getting the rest of the items on my list done.  I need to take care of ME first.

High notes:  Its been almost 2 weeks since I took charge again and already I can feel changes.  My face is feeling thinner, my forearms are feeling thinner.  I didn’t notice that type of change last year.

My main focus this month is the walking and my June Challenges.  Ive been doing pretty good at keeping up with the days.  Im a bit behind with squats (hehe) but for the most part Ive been doing the best I can to stay with the course.

How about you?

Keeping it moving

A brief update of where things are at before I go fall into bed.
Work is crazy but even with that we’ve had just beautiful days.  You know the ones where its perfect and the sun is becoming you to come out and enjoy it and it really is warm not jus fooling you into going outside without at least a sweater and walking for more than 10 min isnt going to make you sweat like you’ve been in a race.
So Ive had to get out and revel in the wonderfulness of PNW spring – and take others out into it with me.
Walking has been going on, around the blocks of downtown we go.  Then, for most days so far, when I get home and after dinner has been made I get in another 3 miles.
Im getting 10k+ in steps daily now – WOOT!
Oh and still keeping up with the 30-day challenges.
And now Im off to bed!

Challenge Yourself

Ok  I still don’t have update pics – too lazy to keep the projects out and get the phone ready and then get everything just right and then the wait for the picture to be backed up to G+… the excuses go on and on.

For those.

But not for other things.

I let myself go a bit this year.  As of Dec, I had a great thing going.  Lost over 30 lbs and a good number of inches and then just blah. 

We started bringing animal protein back into the house, eating lots more pasta and I stopped moving.  Which got me growing (booooo!)

And as much as I want to blame the afore mentioned (and yummy) items it all comes down to the moving.  Or not moving in this case.

So on making no more excuses and just get MOVING!

Starting after Memorial day (cause that was a wonderful not doing anything day) I got moving.  In fact today marks 7 days of moving.

7 days of walking to Leslie Sansone 3 mile walk (heart healthy version), actually moving away from my desk – getting outside and walking around blocks.

I also started a few 30 day challenges on June 1 and today marks 2 days of doing these. 

(more can be found here http://30dayfitnesschallenges.com/challenges/)

So my goal for June is a full 30 days of challenging myself. 

I cant wait to see what happens.

2013

Today marks the close of the year 2013 and for me its been a wonderful year.

Stitching

This year was productive!  I finished stitching on 18 projects, 5 crochet and 13 cross stitch.  The most finishes since Ive been keeping close track of what has been finished.

Fit

The family started off the year with a new goal – eat healthy, be healthy.  We changed our diet to whole food/plant based (think mostly vegan).  The transition was over a few months, so no we didn’t go cold turkey (hehe) and toss out all meat and dairy at once.  By the time summer rolled around, meat and dairy were no longer part of our daily menu.

Along with the diet changes D and I have made a big effort in getting up/out and moving.  The nice result of all of this is a loss 33 lbs and 16 inches for me! 

With the Winter Solstice behind us and it being lighter longer, Im hoping to get back to walking to work in the morning.

Here’s to a great 2014!

Fall Cleaning

Not much has been accomplished on stitching or eats this weekend as furniture rearranging had to be done.

One of those items moving was my bookshelf

Books bereft of shelving

The boys were shocked at the amount of books I was able to cram in 6 shelves.  Ok I do share 2 whole shelves with the family but the rest belong to me.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) during the re-placement of my library I culled quite a few.  Those I just could not bring my self to finish (I can only do so much self torture) or would never read again are in a pile to take to Powells to see if I can get credit (More Books!!) or deliver to Goodwill for others to find as treasures.

Fit

I started the Walk It Off in 30 Days challenge.  Today I got in a good 3 miles using one of Leslie Sansone’s DVDs.  Im feeling back on the grind – today makes it 4 days of 10k+ steps/day.  Im tired but it’s a healthy tired, muscles have been well used and are now ready for bed.

Fall Challenge–Get Moving

A perfect challenge for Fall

Leslie Sansone is starting a Walk It Off Challenge for 30 days starting October 1

Come on., join in – what have you got to lose?