Ups and Downs

I can't say I've made stellar progress over the last several weeks. I'm hovering right about where I was weight-wise. But I've gotten my sorry ass back to the gym and have been doing some treadmill walking. That's a start. And I'm getting my motivation back, which can't hurt the situation.

This weight loss stuff is hard. Maybe the hardest thing I've been up against in my life. And I have a hard time staying focused on it. Life gets busy, I injure myself, I get sick, I have a mood dip...and all of a sudden I'm off the wagon, spiraling downward (upward?) again.

A few weeks ago, I was walking back to my car from my last teaching session of the quarter, stepped off a curb funny, twisted both ankles, an fell, landing on my right knee. My ankles, thank goodness, seem to be healed, but my right knee is still complaining. I'm trying to be gentle with it. It doesn't feel good to get up from a sitting position, and sometimes when I am lying in bed at night, if I'm in one position too long, and try to move, my knee is very stiff and painful. Arthritis, I guess. Hopefully it will calm back down over time.

According to google, the site of my knee pain indicated meniscus or collateral ligament tears and arthritis. Ugh.

My plantar fascitis, while still present in small amounts, hasn't been causing me much grief lately. I am still wearing my orthotics every single stinkin' day. Which is probably a good idea for the foreseeable future.

That day I fell off the curb? I was lying there, on the pavement, in really bad pain...wondering if I would have to take an ambulance somewhere, if I broke something. A guy walking by stopped and asked if I was alright. "No!" I said, "I've sprained both of my ankles. It hurts really bad." He paused awkwardly, asked if I was going to get up. I said I didn't think I could yet. He walked away. Walked. Away. I can't imagine ever just walking away from someone lying on the ground in pain. Wtf?

Two motivation boosts for me right now:

(1) It's almost the new year as I write this, and even though that's just another day, it's a new goal-setting, reflecting time for me.

(2) If all goes according to plan, I will be starting nursing school in about 8 months. Eight short months. And I don't want my weight to be a big issue when it comes to being on my feet for clinicals.

I just have to keep that in the front of my mind and stay focused!!

1.5 pounds down in the last week!

I'm pretty happy with that loss (349.2 to 347.8). I haven't been perfect with my diet this week, but I've been pretty active, and am still feeling very motivated by my fitbit.

I don't have a lot of time to write just at the moment but I wanted to check in at least. I'm going to join a new "challenge" group that will run the day after thanksgiving until I think new years.

Today at work, while I was doing our daily mandatory walk of the grounds to do a safety check, I consciously walked faster to try to get more "very active" minutes logged to my fitbit.

It is thanksgiving this week. I honestly don't think it's going to be that big a blip on my health radar. I don't eat turkey, and I don't really see overdoing it too much on any one item. I'm planning to make a pumpkin pie and some cranberry salad, and my family is going to bring the rest (it's at my house). I do adore pumpkin pie, but I'm only making one, and there will be 4 adults and one child...so there shouldn't be *too* many leftovers.

Tomorrow I'm starting an internship relative to a class I'm taking right now, and I'm going to probably be on my feet for 5 hours straight. I hope I do alright.

The return of optimism!

This morning I am in a perfect mood. I got up early enough to have a real breakfast, and some coffee. My favorite health podcast is back (http://www.fat2fitradio.com) after a months long hiatus, the scale is moving in the right direction, I found some old favorite, extra warm socks in the back of my sock drawer this morning, *and* I will be done with work at 4 today and get to go see Puss n Boots with a friend. Life is good.