Monday, October 25, 2010

on hobbies

It occurred to me the other day that I have few or no hobbies. In declaring loudly a few months ago that if I ever attempted to sew again, all friends and family should hold an intervention, I officially denounced that excruciating pursuit. My horseback riding days are long past and hopefully coming soon, but are not in the NOW. Playing with my animals is a fun pastime, but a pretty passive activity. They romp, I observe. I used to bake, but those days are over.

Today, it seems, my hobby is my health. What to eat, what kind of exercise to engage in, weighing myself, writing about my weight-loss journey.

When I realized this, the fear was pretty quick to slice into me. If it is a hobby, then it follows that it can fall out of favor, slip from fashion, be replaced with something a bit more slick and shiny.

My hope is that what I've been engaged in this past year is not a passing fancy, but shifting into a new gear, perhaps even replacing the transmission so this vehicle never again slips out of gear into neutral. Perhaps once this shift is solid I will be free to explore new hobbies.

Maybe that time is now. And that is why I am sitting with a laptop at 5am. Maybe this will be the year that novel finds its way out.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

11 in 11

1. Climb Mt. Katahdin
2. Hike to Bomber Falls
3. Take riding lessons
4. Write a novel draft
5. Attend Jackson Hole Writer's Conference
6. Buy a house
7. Eat our chickens
8. Go to the Common Ground Fair
9. Wear size 12
10. Finish denim curtain
11. Write a letter a month. At least.

Graph of March-October weight loss

almost there!

WOW

I've developed the habit of weighing myself constantly; totally against the advice of all those who advise us about how to lose weight. But I've become a firm believer in this: weigh yourself constantly and pick the lowest number. You'll feel better.

This week, though; I've been avoiding that white slice of truth on the bathroom floor. Instead of greeting it with excitement, I've been pretending it was part of the floor. For two weeks we have been driving to see specialists. I've missed most of my exercise classes and have been shoving food in my mouth at every available opportunity. Not a recipe for successful weight loss. Plus, I felt weighed down. So, I left well enough alone. I just wasn't ready to see the same red numbers I'd past long ago.

But this morning I decided it was time to face the music. I did my business, tossed the heavy bathrobe on the counter, stepped out of my slippers and stepped up to the plate. 201.5!!

"WOW."
"WO-OW."
"WOW!"

I was floored. I'd LOST weight. Instead of 207, 209 or even 210, like I had been expecting, the digits were in a totally different order. I had to step off and get on again to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. WOW. Not sure how this happened (soup?) but I'm grateful!