4 weeks and counting...

It's now been 4 weeks that I have been back on some type of program.  Not sure what to call the program... clean eating? Paleo with indulgences?  Sort of Weight Watchers?  Whatever you call it, it seems to work for me.

Most of my meals are Paleo/Primal since that is what Hubby prefers and he does all the cooking.  My snacks, for the most part, would be considered clean eating.  Yet, I've had a lot of indulgences that don't fall under any of those categories.  And I'm back to going to my Thursday morning Weight Watcher meetings.  I track all my food on MyFitnessPal, keep track of my steps with Fitbit, and use Runkeeper when I run. 

I've lost 7 pounds in the last 28 days, which for me, the slow loser, is awesome.  Especially considering all the indulgences (cheese cake, cupcakes, ice cream, chocolate) I have had during that time.

I wish I could say I feel great, but I am still struggling with enough issues, that I'm not quite there yet.  This past week has been difficult, both physically and mentally, but I didn't give into emotional eating, so that's a big plus.  I haven't slept enough this week, and I had one of those weeks were I just felt fat and bloated. 

And then there was the running and the knee pain.  Last Saturday I had a good run, so I was actually looking forward to running during the week.  When I went out on Monday morning, I felt good.  No knee pain, breathing was good, and kept to mostly positive thoughts.  So I was surprised at the end of the run to see I my pace was over a 14 minute mile.  And Wednesday's run was even worse... followed by the worst knee pain than I've had in months. 

This shows I have increased

my steps by 68% over the previous 28 days - Go Me!

Hubby thought maybe I was overdoing it... and like usual, he was probably right.  I not only started running again, but I more than doubled my daily steps, was doing the ROMWOD stretching 6 days a week, and doing the Wii Fit two mornings a week.  Pretty sure my knee was rebelling... screaming at me, yelling, "What the hell do you think your doing?  We haven't worked this hard in 6 to 8 months!  That's it, I'm going to show you how I feel about this!" And the pain followed for the next three days.  But I continued to walk... continued to stretch... continued with the Wii Fit. 

Today was a run day.  I was very nervous about getting out because I still had knee pain last night.  I decided I would go and if my knee started to act up, I would walk.  Either way, I was going to get my two miles in.

My knee ached during the run but no major pain.  Breathing was a little ragged but not enough to cause the exercise induced asthma.  And the pace was slow... or so I thought.  I ended the run with a 12:45 per mile pace.  Huh?  How did I manage that?  That definitely was not what I had expected, but I was thrilled!

I'm still not a hundred percent certain I will be able to the 10K in June, but I'm going to keep working at it.  It's a goal.  Something to strive for.

On another note... Thursday, April 14 was my 12 year anniversary of starting on this weight loss journey.  I may not be where I was 6 years ago (at my 100 pound loss), but I am far cry from where I was 12 years ago.  73.8 pounds away from my weight of 12 years. 

I've had a lot ups and downs during the last 4 weeks, but overall, I feel much better than I have in months.  I can only hope that by getting back to what works well for me will help me get back to a weight I am comfortable with, and back to the energy level that I long to have again.