Fall shape-up, and New England Knits...

I mentioned yesterday that I've been cooking a lot more again (the summers always take some of the sizzle out of my dinner preparation; we need a grill badly, but haven't wanted to spend the money). Relatedly, I've renewed my efforts to drop the last 7 lbs. I've held on to since I delivered Hank. Well, I lost most of them, but somehow, very insidiously, they crept back on. And actually, it's been going very well. I'm now within 3.75 lbs of my goal. That's big.

Women, you're all with me here. You can lose 50 lbs., or what have you, but the last 10 are absolutely excruciating. They're very, very hard to lose. What I've been doing is taking a brisk walk every day, running once on the weekend, eating healthier, and reducing my portion sizes. Nothing too dramatic, but a huge lift to my health overall. And I do still eat things that I enjoy (Oreo cookies, I'm lookin' at you) I just eat one instead of five. And if I want a small glass of wine later, I skip the cookie. Things like that.

This is all also related to a visit to my cardiologist a few weeks back. I have a mitral valve prolapse, so I get an echocardiocram (sp?) once a year and a followup visit. Everything looks good, but because I have heart disease on both sides of my family, she wants me to lower my cholesterol a bit. So, I'm trying. This is not easy for your cheese-loving Catholic Librarian, but I'm really trying. Even simply adding moderate exercise into your routine can lower your cholesterol. So, we'll see. But I've lost over 6 lbs since the start of the year, and I'm pleased. I can always tell the difference in my thighs when I'm doing better with my fitness. They're much happier. I'll keep you posted as I finally approach my goal.

In knitting news, I'm nearly done with Hank's hat. I'm working on the crown decreases now, and should finish it tonight. I'll take a picture. Next, I'm going to work on a sweater from a new pattern book I picked up called New England Knits.

I want to make the sweater that is on the cover, and I'm quite excited about it. That's one of the things I'll be working on next, along with all of the socks for Christmas gifts. Very excited.

I won't be around to blog tomorrow, as I'm taking a day off so that Mike and I can go hiking together. I will provide a full report promptly on Friday :)