Feeling better about myself

My hip isn't bothering me anymore! My upper body is not shifted to one side but completely straight! I'm not in pain! The anti-inflammatory medication I was given helped. What a relief! :)

Tonight I'm going to a yoga class and I really look forward to it. I attended one a couple of weeks ago (the night before my body shifted) and have wanted to go back ever since. Now when I'm not in pain there's nothing holding me back. I think I might leave the bike at home and use my new running shoes to walk there and back. Yes, walk. I'm not in such shape that jogging there and back would be possible. Now, that is.

I invested in a pair of proper running shoes (Asics) to use for my walks as I'm afraid my hip might start bothering me again if I walk around in bad shoes. But I also feel a slight urge to take up jogging again. As a teenager I did athletics and I focused on running middle and long distances, anywhere from 800m to 10,000m. I wasn't fast, but I had the ability to set up a pace and keep it. I think the fastest I ever ran 10,000m in was 48minutes. Trying now, I'd die if I attempted to keep that pace...

Yesterday I actually tried jogging for a bit when taking my (almost) daily walk in the evening. I felt heavy, stiff and unsynced with my own movements, but it did feel good jogging. I'm thinking about setting up some goals for myself and to have an organised run in May as a "carrot" to keep me to it when I get tired.

On another note, I've now lost 4kg/almost 9lbs since I started taking better care of myself in November last year. I haven't been "dieting" properly, but I've paid more attention to what I eat, I've made an effort to prepare healthier food, I only have ice cream on Fridays and Saturdays, I stay away from cookies and cakes at coffee time at work and take a fruit instead, I eat a better breakfast to keep me full longer... And I'm not forbidding myself anything. I know I can eat whatever I want to, but I try to think about how much I have to move to get rid of the extra calories and then I decide if it's worth the effort and time. Seems to work for me.

I also take walks. Not every day but 4-5 afternoons/evenings a week. Sometimes just for twenty minutes and sometimes for an hour. Depends on what I feel like. And the temperature. And what casette tape I have in my Walkman...

To a lot of people 4kg/9lbs isn't a big deal. And I'm not saying it is either. I'm not losing weight becasue I'm overweight. I'm losing it to get back into shape. To try and "mold" my body into something I like looking at and feel comfortable in. And I'm very happy with where I am now. These 4kg/9lbs means I've lost 3cm/1.2in around my waist and butt. I've also lost 2cm/0.8in around my hips and around each thigh. I don't think others can see the difference (and that's not the point either) but I can. And I feel it. My clothes are a bit looser and I move more comfortably in them.

Next step here is to get back into my routine of regular yoga classes (at the gym and at home), to start building muscles again and to transform the walks to jogging. I have to say that it doesn't feel impossible at all. On the contrary, I seem to be looking forward to it. This has been much easier than I thought it would be. Maybe because I'm not hurrying things or forbidding myself those tasty chocolate cakes when the urge comes by?