Pushing through the pain

Wow, so its been almost 3 weeks since that last update. Feels like way longer since I had just joined the gym that day. I'm well settled into my routine now of going in every morning. Aidan had a rough time at first with the day care, but after about a week of fussing he now wakes up every morning and tells me he wants to go to mommy's exercises place. Brian has been making him say positive exercises because he says both words really well and its so cute, but I digress.

In those 3 weeks I have managed to officially hit my 20 pound loss mark. I have kinda plateaued there though. Its been a week without loss. I'm sure its because of my eating habits, but that's been tough. With summer comes all my favorites like grilled chicken, hot dogs, steak, etc. I LOVE the grill. I'm trying to experiment with new grilled foods like fish or veggies, but I'm kinda chicken about trying something new without a recipe. I will also be honest and say that Easter was a bit of a set back for me (gained about 5 pounds) but I have lost that again so I'm back on track. Hopefully from here on out I'll keep going down and learning more about my body.

My biggest exercise issue right now is pain. I think I have tweeked my knee in spin class this week and feel like I'm spending too much time trying to get it back to normal and not enough time working out. My Couch to 5K training was going so well (I was on week 3) and then bam. I am still learning what kind of pain to push through and what kind to stop and take care of. My other big struggle is that advice #1 is always to take some Advil for the pain. I am on blood thinners and can't do that. So I'm doomed to ice and that's about it. Not that I mind, I just hate not being able to push harder in the gym. Plus I find myself struggling with knowing what pain is ok and not. I'll stop sometimes only to get home and realize I'm fine now and could have kept going. Oh well. I guess its all a learning experience.

So, on the positive here are the wow moments I've had so far:

1. I'm down 20 pounds. I'm officially under 260 which seems silly to most of you skinny folk, but that's a huge number for me. I haven't been under 260 since Aidan was born and it didn't last long then. Before that, it was when Brian and I were dating. Next goal is 250. :-)
2. Slowly I'm able to pull things out of the closet that have been hiding for a while. Like a dress I bought when Aidan was born that I never wore because I gained weight before I got the chance. Or an old shirt I LOVED that didn't fit right last year.
3. I put on my pants and I CANNOT wear them without a belt anymore. I tried and it was an unpleasant Walmart trip with me yanking them up the whole time.
4. I officially am kneeling in church again. I haven't done this in years because my knees hurt too badly.
   
5. I feel better. Just every day I have more energy, I can carry Aidan or hold him longer, I don't shirk away from things because of the activity level. Oh, and Aidan and I run around the house or through a parking lot together at least once a week. I have never "run" with my son before this.
6. I know I'm getting stronger because my work outs with Val on the weekends don't hurt as bad or for as long as they did 2 months ago.
   
7. This past Saturday I ran 1/2 mile non stop at a decent pace.
8. And finally, when I started working out I could go a mile in 19:25. My mile time is now about 15min. That's a 4!!!! min improvement! Wow, I'm awesome. :-)

That's it for today. Just wanted to update. I have had a couple people ask what I'm doing and it makes me so happy to be able to share just a little of it with them. Seriously happy. I have never been so proud of myself for something I've done as I am for what I'm doing now.