My Oola Journey: From Fat to Fabulous

You have probably noticed I have not written on this subject in a long while.  There is a reason -- or excuse -- however you choose to look at it.  I was rolling along with my fitness plan -- great guns, in fact -- when in December, I had a car accident.  Rear-ended after a pedestrian jumped in front of my car (jaywalking) and I slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting him.  Not uncommon in Vegas; in fact, the guy who hit me, suggested I should have hit him!  When I asked him if he was a local, he admitted to being one.  You can always tell!  In spite of the accident, I did not let that stop me...at least for the first couple of weeks.  And then, back pain set in.  I was not fine and that took some time to heal.  Thankfully, with a few weeks respite in my routine, it did.

I then got back into exercise  and began playing tennis.  Now, I want you to imagine this; my first day of playing tennis after not having been on the court in over 20 years.  However,  I am doing some pretty fancy playing for someone who hasn't done so in forever.  Suddenly, a ball is hit across the opposite side of the court from me.  Believing nothing has changed and in my mind, I was 20 years younger, I ran like no other to get it.  Except, I'm in cross-trainers -- not bona fide tennis shoes.  My toe catches on the court and I land, going down in what seems to be in slow motion, flat on my face.  I laid there for a couple of minutes because, my pride was bruised considerably and I couldn't face my opponent.  I eventually got up and did not appear hurt.  Thankfully, just skinned up my hand and the rest of me was intact.  Or so I thought.  It has now been 2 1/2 months since that fall and of pain in the foot that caught on the tennis court.  After a month, I went into the doctor.  I figured enough is enough!  I had an x-ray that showed nothing.  So, what I appear to have is some sort of injury to the tendons that run across the top of my foot at the base of my toes.  Tough to walk, let alone play tennis.  Yes, it is the I've-turned-a-year-older-now-what-else-can-fall-apart syndrome.  I think I can still walk and chew gum -- no wait, I take that back! I can sit and chew gum!

I miss exercising and as soon as it warms up a bit more, will be hitting the pool.  I refuse to let these aches and pains stop the progress I was making.  My weight is the same as it was in December; exercise is key to my losing weight and without it?  Well, I just stagnate.  I know this.  My metabolism at 55 years of age after four kids is gone!  I take that back -- it's been on a long hiatus.  But it needs a swift kick in the rear to get jump-started again.   

So, as the OolaSeeker and OolaGuru wait with bated breath to see if I will make my goal before OolaPalooza 2015, let me just say this;  I will not disappoint.  I will do this and although I've had setbacks, I refuse to let them hold me back any longer;  A) because it's hard as heck to lose weight without exercise and B) life always has setbacks and you need to find a way to deal with them.  Clearly, my foot isn't going to get better anytime soon and so, I have to do a major "course correction" in order to reach my goal.  Swimming?  Bicycling?  Yoga?  I definitely miss tennis but better to let my foot heal than have more problems later.  Fall is coming and I can always play then.

In the meantime, I will write periodically to update you all on my progress.  At the risk of sounding trite; remember, small steps do add up.  Perseverance is key.  Never give up on your dreams.  And if you have to sidestep a few boulders in your way?  Try to do so without landing on your face!