Sunday, September 28, 2008

oops. I did it again.

For the second year in a row, I completely let our dating anniversary pass on by without even a sniff in its memory. I feel badly about this. Our dating anniversary is actually the date of when we met, August 12, 2000. I can't believe we both forgot.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Two Three One.

My goal is two two five. (baby steps). . .

About fifteen months ago, I had annual blood work completed. When the results came back, I was called, and told that I had a cholesterol level of 360. Three sixty is what it should be if I am a man in his sixties who eats burgers and fries every day before his heart attack. This was a very alarming situation for me to be in. High cholesterol unfortunately runs in my family, so part of this was maybe hereditary, but obscenely high cholesterol like mine was just plain bad. Normal is under two hundred. Two thirty is high. Then there's 360.

So, I spent two months on Crestor. I don't know anyone else my age who has been placed on a statin drug. Many statins can cause liver damage and muscle weakening, and are considered highly toxic, pregnancy category X, etc. .

After two months, I was down to two thirty. This was super positive, but not a result of my attempts to get healthier, so I was not really comforted. I have spent the last year only consuming beef once a month. I try not to eat cheese unless it is considered dinner with a glass of wine. I greatly cut the amount of alcohol I was consuming, because my triglycerides were high, too, at the time the bloodwork results came back, and alcohol intake contributes to high triglyceride levels. I have lost and kept off the ten pounds from last session, and while I don't feel like I am at an ideal weight, I think I have done some positive things for myself in my attempts to have a 31 year old body and not a sixty year old male body.

I went to the doctor two weeks ago and just got these recent bloodwork results back. My cholesterol is 231. This is still high, but I am very pleased that it has essentially stayed level in the last year. Now I would like to get it lower, because that is just that much healthier. I have been eating oatmeal daily for about two weeks. This is getting seriously old, but I plan to stick to it until I have blood drawn again, hopefully for two months or so. I know that oatmeal alone is not a plan, but it is a good start. (I did just decline an offer for Pizza Hut lunch buffet, too.) I also plan to continue to work on all of my eating habits. I really try to limit beef, full fat dairy items, and I am trying to stay away from all fried items, as well. All of this however, is acceptable in moderation, and avoiding anything altogether is a recipe for failure, I think.

I don't enjoy going to the gym, and it is hard for me to make the time to go during the week. I have started speed walking for 2 miles every day, during work, while it is slow. This is about 30 minutes each afternoon, and it is five days a week, and this is as good as it gets for now. The goal here is just to not be so sedentary.

Anyway, I would really love to be able to get my cholesterol down under two hundred, but that is a two to three year assault, I think. My current goal is 225, because I think that a couple of months of perseverance can make that difference. Then I will reassess.

Do you know your cholesterol level? Maybe it is time to check.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Update. Sweater discussion.

I can't believe it is September and it is now officially Autumn. It is hard to feel excited about 'fall' when it is still in the nineties every day. I made navy bean and ham soup last week. It is hard to eat leftover soup when you're sweating. I love to drink coffee when it is hot outside and don't mind sweating then, but soup, no thank you. The list of one hundred is updated, below - because I began the draft a while back, the actual post appears back a few posts. . .

I can't wait for some cooler weather so we can test out our fireplace. . .we didn't have one in the old house. I look forward to hanging stockings there at Christmas.

Autumn brings new things at the farmers market, and I didn't go today because I stayed up late watching weather coverage on the TV. Thanks for nothing, Hurricane Ike (not to trivialize what has happened to our coastal neighbors). . . Not even a dribble here. I do plan to go to the market next week, or maybe I will hit the midweek one - I want to get some squash next week and see what else might be there. I love baked acorn squash with a little bit of tamari and some brown sugar. mmmmmmmm.

I finished the back of the houndstooth sweater. I feel like my speed is improving on the houndstooth, and while it still certainly takes a while, I think I may be able to finish it barring the possibility of other simultaneous knitted projects. It is remarkably apropops that I am working on this sweater pattern right now - it is developed from a Chanel pattern, and at this very instant, I am watching 'Coco Chanel' on Lifetime. Yeah, Lifetime.

Friday, September 5, 2008

photos of other knitted items I have done. .


This is just a photo post because I am compiling a collection of knitted items that I have given away. . So, meet Baur, in the red apple hat, born and made in December of 2007.


I am still working on my one hundred. I have a draft post but don't have entirely 25 more new items that nobody knows about me. Do I wear myself on my sleeve so much that I have nothing new to tell people? I have got to stop talking.