Two years ago I was running to grab my phone at cheer practice. I tripped on my own pant leg and crashed in to the concrete. It took awhile for the swelling to go down enough to see anything thru a MRI. I had torn my PCL.
I had no idea then that my recovery would be so long. I did not have surgery, as the ligament was hanging on by a thread; and surgery involved taking my whole knee apart. I did know this meant an extended recovery time. I thought maybe an extra month or two.
Last year I had a goal to run a mile by my birthday; so one year from the date that I broke myself. I did it. I ran a mile last year on my birthday. I also couldn’t walk well for the rest of the day after I did that.
I’m used to being able to push my way thru almost anything. I couldn’t push my way thru this. I had to be patient . . . not always my strong suit.
So for the past two years I have struggled a bit with a lot of things having to do with my body. When I was really laid up with my knee I ate too much. When I was in physical therapy I didn’t rest enough. And since then, I just haven’t been too nice to my body. After I ran that mile on my last birthday, I didn’t run again for about 10 or 11 months. I gave up for a while on myself.
These last three weeks I have been working very hard to treat my body nicer. I have been trying to eat healthy and been trying to sleep enough. This was seriously horrible timing with football and the new office and the new assistant – which means that this was seriously the BEST timing to remember not to put myself on the back burner when life gets stressful and super-duper busy.
In the past three weeks I have lost over 10 pounds! Yay me! Today I gave myself a free pass to eat carbs and sugar and not count all my calories. I started out today pretty good. I really did. Then I had some pop. Then cookies. Then candy. Then cake. Ugh. I feel sicky and ready to explode. Here’s a crazy thing that I noticed today. I feel much better when I eat healthy.
I know that shouldn’t be a huge shock, right? Over a decade or so ago, it truly didn’t seem to matter. I could eat sugar saturated food or super healthy food and I’d feel about the same. But now, I really feel the difference. My tummy is not happy with me. My whole body is not happy with me. My “free pass” for my birthday is not turning out as fun as I thought it would be.
Tonight I am thankful for making good changes in my life! I will remember today. I will remember how all this food made me feel. And I will remember that on my birthday and on every other day, one of the best presents that I can give myself is the gift of health and feeling good!
Bug's Bright Side 