The Beginning

15 days from now, I turn 28.

But I'm not starting this project because of my birthday. I'm starting this project because of the New Year.

On January 1st, I was at the gym with my partner and weighed in at 40 pounds more than my ideal weight range. This was after spending the fall cultivating a 2-3 day/week gym habit. But I wasn't shaking the weight, what I like to refer to as my MA 20 and Recession 10.

For Christmas, I bought my partner and I Krav Maga intro lessons. We got started in mid-January. We signed up for a six month membership. She was thrilled. I thought that learning something new would keep me motivated, help me move beyond the eliptical-weight-machine monotony. I needed the something.

The truth is, I read for a living. I get paid (minimally--I'm a PhD student) to sit on my ass, think, write, read, repeat. I love what I do. But the more I do it, the more I realize--given karpal tunnel, shoulder aches, neck stiffness, bleary eyes--that what I do is incredibly physical. Just not physically active.

So my partner and I got to kick each other's ass for 60 minutes two days a week. I've never been an athlete (read: German Club member, high school newpaper editor) so I didn't know what this kind of physical instruction could look like. After a few weeks, I was impressed with how hard I could be pushed physically.

But the bruises were killing me.

And so were my hips. I had a chronic dull ache in my hip joints since 2005, which I remember because it began to really bother me the summer I was an assistant girl scout camp director in Alaska. Mountains, glaciers, ache, bears, moose, ache.

Around the first of April, I woke up and could barely walk. Pain was shooting up and down my left leg. My back felt like my joints were jammed into the wrong socket.

I found out my health insurance covered PT. At a physical therapy evaluation, they gave me presciption pain killers, suggested a diagnosis of osteitis pubis, and prescribed total rest for a month before beginning a PT schedule. I had already lost 17 pounds.

And they told me Krav Maga was the worst possible thing for me.

I gained back 7 pounds.

This week I went to nutritionist. Then I went to my PT. Both suggested a weight loss of between 25-28 pounds to help with my general mobility. But my exercise is still limited. I can do some swimming, eliptical without reisistence, walking, and short bike rides.

So this is the beginning of a new six month journey: 28 pounds in the first half of my 28th year.

You'll find out more about me as I continue to write. I'm hoping this blog will keep me motivated and energized and make this process a bit more fun.

Oh, and another thing: in six months, I take my Comprehensive Exams. Between now and then, I have 186 books and articles to read and annotate.....