Back in the Saddle Again

You, like me, have probably noticed that the number to the right representing my weight loss goals hasn’t changed much in the past few months. But I, unlike you, have been wracked with guilt over such an observation.

It was one year ago this month that I began my journey to looking and feeling better about myself. It tapered off for a few months until my friend, Jari, suggested that we begin training for a 5K in December. I avoided her texts for a few minutes until I finally realized that it would be a very good thing to have an end goal in sight to help me keep on track with losing weight!

So I did it. We trained for 13 weeks to prepare for running a 5K. I had never participated in an organized run like that before, and it felt great to be so consistent with my training. I’m no superstar by any means, and you runners out there may scoff at my race time. But I met my goal and finished the race faster than I aimed. And it felt great.

Weight loss happened the entire 13 weeks. It was wonderful.

I don’t think that I’ve mentioned this, but along the way I acquired quite a fun little injury. About four weeks in, my right heel started to hurt. It wasn’t debilitating by any means, so I continued to train and ignored the pain. The unfortunate part is that I was doing enough damage to impact me in more than just running. I now feel my hurt heel with every step taken.

After I finished my race with my sister and sister-in-law on December 17th, I decided to give my heel some rest. Through careful research online (who needs a doctor’s opinion?), I discovered that I had several micro tears in my Achilles Heel. And it hurts ALL the time.

I have to be careful when I first get out of bed, because that is when it feels the tightest. Or after sitting for a few minutes without use (shame on me for ever sleeping or sitting!). Basically, the heel needed to heal by giving it a few months of rest.

So I did. And Valentines candy and Easter candy pretty much ruled all of my decisions for a few months. I enjoyed it at the time, but that nagging voice in my head said that it would come back to haunt me.

When April rolled around, my heel still was no better. But my lack of consistent exercise and my healthy diet of chocolate had taken its toll. I had not only forgotten to lose weight for a few months but had started to gain some of it back. All of that hard work for months last fall was going to waste!

Here I am today, seven pounds heavier than I was when I finished my 5K in December. My self-esteem has plummeted once again. Not so much because I don’t like how I look, but more for the fact that I haven’t done anything about it for almost six months!

I attempted to run a few weeks ago for the first time, and it was a mistake. Even with my new shoes and insoles (which would have prevented this injury in the first place, by the way), the running was too painful on my heel. It’s the lift-off motion, like rolling off it for a layup in basketball, that hurts the worst. And that motion is used a lot in running. Yikes!

Taking my still-prevalent injury into consideration, I made a new goal to reignite my weight-loss goals again this morning. I will simply find low-impact exercises to avoid damaging my heel. I have a doctor’s appointment for later this week, and my heel will be looked at then. I need to overcome the pain so I can get back on track.

Most people work out and then feel better about pigging out. “I worked out this morning, so I can totally eat that container of ice cream!” I am the complete opposite. When I work hard in the gym, the last thing I want to do it waste it on eating unhealthy. So, for me, working out is a necessary part of losing weight! I know that eating healthy is about 80% of the battle, but exercising is what motivates me to eat healthy and keep consistent. So I need to do one to be good at the other. Does that make sense?

Hubby helped me devise my plan, though it all had to come from me first. I would love to be 15-20 pounds lighter when I see my family in the next few months. And that would keep me on track to lose my original goal of 50 pounds by the end of this year.

In the dark last night, Hubby asked what I was going to do to avoid being derailed this time. I told him that I need to be healthy and happy before we can start a family, which is scheduled for 2014 after my student loans are paid off and we are in a good position financially to bring little monkeys into our situation.  Scheduling when to have kids is completely normal, right? I want to be happy with myself before little ones are added to the equation. I need to be healthy (body and soul) so I can raise them in a great environment.

And I want to look and feel good in my clothes. I’m so tired of being self-conscious of my poor appearance all the time! I’m tired of not being able to feel good in half the clothes in my closet!

So it all begins today. It helps that I am home from work for the next few weeks while Gladys is in maintenance. I won’t have any excuses to avoid working out every day. By eating healthy and doing exercises twice a day, I think the weight will begin to melt away, and my self-esteem and happiness level will only increase!

Doing something goes a long way with me.

Do you want to join with me? Become a better and healthier you? I’m starting today, and you can, too! I’ll make progress reports and would love to hear from your happy results.

Take that, Achilles Heel.