Healthy Goals

Last summer was the first time I've ever started exercising. I mean, really exercising. You know. The kind where you bust your butt trying to lose weight and get healthy? Yeah. I did that. I started out slow and worked my way up to very fast speed-walking/slow jogging. I did this at least five days a week and I sure felt like I was working the fat away. Strangely enough, I did this for almost three months and never lost a single pound. I know. Very annoying.

I didn't lose anything, but here is what I gained: A seriously messed up knee, a wonky foot, and some epic proportioned self-esteem issues. I was flabber-gasted. I mean, how can a person sweat their butt off without getting even slightly toned or, at the very least, a pant-size lower? And to top it off, by the end of the three month stretch, I couldn't bend my knee and was limping the last mile of every walk/jog. My knee got so bad that I had to quit. I went to the doc only to be told I needed an MRI. Well, guess how much an MRI costs. The answer is: Too much! I didn't get it. Lucky for me, I have a brother-in-law who's a doctor and can diagnose these things. He told me it was a torn meniscus and that I'd need surgery to fix it.

So here's the thing. I need to get healthy (exercise wise). I eat well enough. But I need to shed the pounds in the worst way! According to the BMI charts, I'm just a few pounds shy of obesity. What?!? I am not obese! *rolls eyes* (Wait. Am I?) I'm short. Apparently someone of my stature should have an ideal weight of 120 pounds. Yeah, right! In my bra! Ha! So here I am, needing to exercise but unable to bend my knee. So my goal is to get my body healthy and back up and running so that I can...ya know...get up and running. So far, I've gotten my scary neck lump checked. Good and done. My broken foot is never going to heal (don't ask) but I can deal with it. I went to a heart doc to make sure my skipped heart beats (PVCs) aren't anything to worry about. Good and done. And I have physical therapy going for my wrist that I sprained (while sleeping...figure that one out) so I can start with weights. Not good yet, but done. Now I have one thing left: My knee. I've got the MRI done and an appointment with the Ortho next week. As soon as they can tell me what the random floating object (probably cartilage) is in my knee, they'll fix me up and I'm hitting that pavement again! I am really trying to get myself taken care of. I'm a train-wreck and I need to be good so I can...ya know...be good. Does that make sense?

So this is me, trying to fix myself. I'm actually putting myself as a priority. I haven't done that in years. It sounds messy and no fun. And believe me when I say that it's been a wild past couple of months. But I feel like I'm accomplishing something. It's time to say bye-bye to almost-obese Jessica and hello to endorphine-loaded Jessica. Healthy goals - I have them.