Once upon a time I was about to leave for a mission. At this time I weighed 150 pounds, during my mission I had one area that I put on a lot of weight. Since I never had a scale I have no idea how heavy I got, but it wasn't pretty. In my last area my companion and I both enjoyed running so several times a week we would wake up early and run about 4 miles. When I got home I was 155 and had lost most of the weight I had gained and came back with a love for running.
During this discovery I also learned that I like to push myself and sometimes pushed to hard and began to occasionally have pain on the side of my knee. I came home and kept running until I couldn't run more than a mile without the pain coming back. The winter a year after I got home I would just get on my families treadmill and put the incline all the way up and walk for half an hour a day. My leg felt fine and I was still able to get the exercise I wanted.
I moved out, and a year later started student teaching, became Elders Quorum president, had a girlfriend and all of a sudden I was exhausted all the time and exercise took a back seat. Then one day I stepped on a scale and was HORRIFIED to see I was 171. That was 15 pounds heavier than when I got home from my mission, 20 from when I left. I promptly went to Golds Gym, which was just behind my apartment and signed a 2 year deal. I did really really good at times, OK at others, and had my weeks I didn't go at all. During this time I was between 158 and 168 for 2 years. Even when I was 168 I was in better shape and felt better than when I was 155.
This February my pass ended, in January I was sick almost the whole month and then in February the pain in my knee came back along with shin-splints, and charlie horses. I was trying to play basketball and I was running on sheer willpower. My legs felt like they were going to give out, and not because I was out of shape or tired, they just weren't working. So in January, February, and March due to sickness and injury I did basically nothing. I stepped on my scale Tuesday, March 22nd and if I was HORRIFIED at 171, I don't know what word I can use for what happened. It rocked my world and spun me into despair. 183.5!
Let's get off that paragraph and forget it ever happened. I had gained 15 pounds in 2-3 months. So I made a goal, and I know they say when you make a goal you need to tell people, to be down to 163.5 in 2 months. So by May 22nd, I will be back to where I want to be. I feel like this is a reasonable and obtainable goal. It came on fast, so I am hoping it will be able to come off just as easily.
This morning after my first run, trying to test my leg, I did pretty well. I am still trying to push myself, I figure if you are only going to go half-way, what is the point of doing it at all. The second I felt a twinge in my leg I began to walk, no point in hurting myself on the first day. I also stretched for a good 15 minutes when I was done. I went grocery shopping on Wednesday and have been eating very healthily and in small portions. I have also been doing some exercises at night before I go to bed and when I weighed myself right now I was at 176.2 having lost 7.3 pounds in 5 days. I am going to try and keep it at about 2 pounds a week, it's not really healthy to lose weight that quick.
I guess sometimes you have to hit rock bottom and be scared out of your mind to be who you want to be sometimes. I just hope my left leg will let me kick my butt back into shape. Because nothing else will.
