Hello Ladies

Hello ladies. Well this is the last day of January and I met my monthly goal of five pounds!!

Sammy I think that the walking article is great. I have started walking on my lunch break everyday(that it's not raining sideways) The walking article made me really want to stick to it. I am glad to hear that you are on your way to full/ good recovery. Keep it up Chica!! I also think that your goal of just being healthier and not focusing on numbers is a great idea!!!


So my February goal is to just be healthier....aim to do something active everyday and eat healthy. I will of course log it because, well it makes me feel good when my calendar is full of x'd off days.


Christine. How has the new year been going for you? Any fitness/health updates?



*Miss Molly

10,000 steps

Hello girlies!
First Molly I'd like to say I am definitely thinking about you and your dad. I am so happy to hear that he is on the road to recovery. Also I think taking him on beach walks would be perfect! You can spend time with each other and be active at the same time. Which brings you both closer to your weightless gaols!!

Speaking of walking I stumbled upon a great little article about walking and how it will improve ones health. As we all know I can't do nothing but walk right now so I found this to be very helpful.  It talked about having a goal of 10,000 steps a day. The article is a little dated but I say hey why not try it so I'm going to see if I can work my way up to that goal. Also with the help of my grandma and mom I'm going to hopefully start weight watchers online next month. I also have a doctors appointment on Thursday so I can see what else I can do for physical activity. I had a little meltdown these past couple days because I felt so holed up and useless because of my recovery, but with a little talk with my family I feel more excited and more inspired to get back on track.

My goal for the next couple months is to just live a more healthy life style. I'm going to try not to focus so much on numbers but to focus on the positives of what a healthy lifestyle will give me. It's a different approach so we shall see how it goes!

Finally I just really want to thank you Molly and Christine for all of your kind words and support you are both awesome.

-Samantha

The article I was talking about

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-04-05-walk_x.htm

HEARTS...they're a muscle. work them!!

Last Friday I got some terrible news. I told you ladies that my dad had a major heart attack two years ago and made it through...thank god. Friday he went to his cardiologist because his ankles have been swelling. Well, his heart is begining to fail him. He has the start of congestive heart failure. He is 54 years old! He needs to lose 60 lbs in the next 6 months to take some of the stress off the heart. After the attack he exercised for like two weeks then quit. NOT COOL. He needs to make the heart stronger by cardio exercise. Life depends on your body Litterally!!

The point is that even if we only work out to look good we are making every part of our bodies stronger. And even if we don't need to lose weight we still need to work our hearts. The heart is a muscle. The rule about muscles is if you don't use them they atrophy(waste away). This is especially true about hearts...So all the more reason to get off our butts and move.

Hello ladies I did it! I survived haha. So it's been awhile but I am happy to say that I am walking around without a walker, and I've been walking these past two days outside for at least 25 minutes. I am so sore! Haha just from those walks and it's something I want to continue. The weather is nice out here in California. :)

Molly how is everything going? I am so proud of you! You keep doing what you do! I am so grateful for this blog too. I feel that it is officially a just girls space. It's nice to come somewhere and just let your feeling be known by people who will understand. <3

Christine I hope you are doing well! I'm sure you must be super busy especially with work (spring musicals and concerts?) haha stay strong and remember to take time for yourself. Also did you see a version of Jane eyre is going to come out in theater's?! I can't wait to see it.

I'm thinking of you both and I thank you for the well wishes.

-Samantha

Thinking of you both...and January goals

Sammy I am thinking about you and praying for an easy surgery and a fast recovery!! Remember you are a young strong lady and you will be just fine.

Christine I am sorry to hear that you've got the bug. Ya that'll jumpstart your weightloss. So how about you resolve to only eat healthy foods when your body gets healthy again. Good luck with your January goals.


I am addressing this to "both" because we seem to be the only ones on the board. Jessica where'd you go girl?? If you are still here then how is it going? Very well I hope.

I have set a January goal of losing 5 pounds. Today is the 10th and I have done some form of physical exercise most days of this month. Today is a shred day, so Jillian is going to kick my butt good. I have renewed motivation and am really gonna go for it. 21 days to go until the end of the month. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Thank you for this blog Christine. I really love to have you ladies here to get support from and to have somewhere to vent. I resolve to utilize it more like in the first months because it really helps!!

Miss Molly

I'm doing it

Today I exercised and I also opted out of a fat filled lunch with a friend(chinese) to have some low cal low sodium very yummy soup. So I am doing it...I am taking back control!! I was doing so well and then I really slipped up but you know this summer is my 10 year HS reunion so I am not going to let this slip become anything more. I suddenly feel very empowered and motivated! Anyone else? My January goal is to drop just five lbs...I know I can meet that goal.

Goals and an update!

Hello ladies long time no see! Okay so I have a lot to talk with you about.  So my injury as you know was really 2 herniated discs. I have received an epidural shot but I'm afraid it wasn't working at all and so the pain management doctor said no more shots.  So my alternative is surgery. My surgery is planned for January 10 and it's luckily an out patient surgery.  SO I'm hoping for the best.  Since I found out that my back has been all screwy in Thanksgiving I have been unable to do any physical activity and I have been on some very heavy medication.  So i have gained back all the weight I have lost and I am back to being 188. I can't express to you my despair on losing all that I worked for.  It's really upsetting and I think the worst part is that there is nothing I can do about it. It's super frustrating to be 19 and be in the situation I am in. However I am looking forward to after my surgery where I can recover and get back to being active again. I will start from scratch but I think that's for the best.
My goals are to just recover and get back on track. Possibly look into weight watchers (have you seen Jennifer Hudson!!!!) and go to physical therapy to build a strong core and back.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I am looking forward to hearing about you experiences and stories while recover :))

Keep up the good work ladies!
Samantha

My Aran Squares - for Ravelry pics

I'm going to upload my squares as I finish them, here. I can then link them to my Ravelry group. I don't know how to get them up there other than this. When I figure it out, I'll change that.

Belanger square

Morioka Square

Burns Square

January Goals

Christine first I have to say that your Tuscany project is beautiful. You are very talanted.


Ok my baby step goals for January is to lose just 5 pounds...Why just five? Because it is a do-able goal for me. I plan to break my main goal up into three month baby goals of 5 lbs a month. I am only 15 pounds away from being at my final goal that I had set when we first started out. The holidays are over so the yummy food temptations are no longer an issue, I can get back to the way it was when I was on track and loosing.

Tuscany - Part Two

So, this project was started last Thanksgiving time - yes, I do mean 2009! I got about 10 inches and found a MAJOR mistake. I had to rip out about 8 inches to get back on track. In frustration, I put it down. When I went back to it, I forgot how to do it and screwed up several times before getting really cooking with this. Shortly after the post below, I ran out of yarn. Having purchased it in the summer of 2008, I called the store and they had two more skeins but said I had to bring it in to see if it matched. The Friday prior to Thanksgiving, just diagnosed with Lyme Disease and feverish, I drove the hour 40 minutes to the shop I'd bought it in. Serves me right for buying yard while at my son's goalie camp across the state!


From November 8, 2010
Okay, so in my alternate universe, I have a job that allows me to knit all day, I'm fabulously fit of course, and I travel. I wanted to make something special for some one very important to me. She has pretty much my dream life except that she doesn't knit! So, since one of her favorite places is Tuscany (we used to say we'd get there together some day) and she's always got these fancy parties to go to or host, I found this wrap pattern called "Tuscany!" I figured that was fate and hope to finish it to give her at Thanksgiving!

Anyway, of course the yarn wasn't even close! As I came out having purchased two skeins that did match, and resolving myself to the fact that I'd have to start from scratch w/the new yarn, Demian from Blue Heron Yarns called and suggested I rip out a yard and mail it to him. He thought that perhaps he could find something in stock that would match what I'd already finished. So....I did just that and worked on Mom's 1960's afghan instead from then till Christmas!

Patty's matching yarn came in about two weeks into December and I was able to finish her Tuscany shawl while she was up in CT for Christmas! This is by far my favorite thing I've ever knitted and it's also the first thing I've ever blocked in my life! I hope she loves it as much as I've come to love it over the past two years!

Here are the pics!
Blocking Tuscany

Patty in Tuscany!

Yea! Patty loves Tuscany and I love her!

Hopefully Patty will find some where fabulous and fancy to wear this. I bet it will look perfect with a little black dress or jeans!

Projects to keep me happy!

So, here's what I'll be working on this month! I have, like most knitters, accumulated a lot. A lot of yarn, a lot of needles of every type, a lot of books and patterns and A LOT of UFO's! (un-finished projects for you non-knitters!)

I've decided to allow myself 1 or at least 1/2 of a square from my Great American Aran Afghan project in between other UFO's that I need to finish. Here's what I've done so far.

In March, I really need to be able to pick up Meag's lacy sweater so that I can finish it for summer weather. I cannot work on it till the scarves and socks and such are done.

So here's my list in no particular order.

UFO's
Malabrio scarf for someone sweet (need by January 24)

Cashmere scarf for my favorite daughter

On-Hold Socks for Meag - from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson

Socks for Dear Hubby - Two at a time - from the toe up - what was I thinking?????

Mystery wrap - scrumptious mystery yarn from Laurie - Directions, sit, cast on 100 (size 19), knit, BO, enjoy! There are 4-5 yarns in this hank so it will be quite fun seeing what it makes!

Baby Steps - or Attainable Goals for those who fell off the wagon!

Okay so these are NOT resolutions. I don't believe in them anymore. These are a few goals that I believe I can achieve, that will ultimately help me get back on track and that will hopefully become habit if I can stick to them throughout the month of January. If these have become habitual, then I can set a few more goals for February and so on.

1. I will make time to eat breakfast every day - and on weekends, it will be at a normal hour. Typically, I get rushed in the morning due to lack of night-time planning and if I skip something, it's always breakfast. Also, on weekends, we drag our feet around here and often have brunch or go right into lunch.

2.I will plan for and cook real meals more frequently. I often don't plan well enough ahead and am caught off guard trying to figure out what's for dinner while kids are coming and going for different things.

3. I will say NO more often. I will say this to myself to that extra fattening food item I am not hungry for and I will say this to people or things which take me away from my family and cause undue stress in my life.

Okay, those are my first three and I will add on or alter as I see fit!

Let the JOURNEY begin again! What will you do for yourself this year?