Hi everyone! So, it’s been a minute since I’ve done any writing…August I believe, about 7 months. Life has been a little chaotic and crazy the last few months for sure. I had to take some time to examine myself, take care of myself, essentially re-learning to make myself a priority. It’s been quite a roller coaster, but I’m working hard on several things and finding the light at the end of the tunnel.

Although I’ve been gone for so long, and under a lot of stress, I’m proud to say I have MOSTLY kept to the keto lifestyle I began almost a year ago (holy crap has it been that long?) and have kept up my workouts (until more recently but more on that news in a bit). I’ve done a lot of stress and emotional eating, I won’t lie. Should probably have bought some stock in Halo Top lol. But I managed to only gain about 15-20 pounds. Even with this gain I’m still in my smallest sizes, and folks tell me the gain is not noticeable. Much relief for that!!

So I’m here to say I’m recommitting to writing regularly and sharing my journey to help and encourage others. I have come to find that doing this gives me a lot of joy and fulfillment, and I need to get back to it. I have had so many people encourage me, inspire me and support me. I have a strong desire to give back in any way that I can.

So as I mentioned, it’s been a stressful few months. And when I’m stressed or emotional I eat. It’s the way I’ve spent my life dealing with emotions. But I’m absolutely convinced that because I mostly stayed away from sugar, starches and grains, I minimized the damage. But I now have a new arsenal of coping mechanisms, in addition to the ones I had already had in my pocket. So I’m committing to being back on track and getting myself back to where I want to be.

One thing I learned through this eat-my-face-off few months is that intuitive eating can really work. Like I said I was eating a lot more than normal. I was also not tracking anything. I used to be meticulous about tracking everything I ate. But I think I’m finding that so long as I stick to the right foods and listen to my body, I can do well. It’s kind of freeing. The trick is recognizing when you are really hungry and when you’re not. It can be very hard sometimes, but your body knows what you need and when you need it.

I had some high points over the last few months, even amidst all the stress. I ran my 11^th half marathon in November, the Made in America Half in Massillon and got a huge PR! I was ecstatic to cross the finish at 2:08:43, shaving 3 minutes and 20 seconds off my time! That’s a 9:50 pace; so excited to have stayed under a 10-minute mile! This is the second time I’ve PR’d my half at this race. If you love running on the towpath, I highly recommend this race! And it’s at a great time of year for those of us who prefer to run in a little cooler weather.

If you’ve been following my Instagram feed, you’ve seen that my running’s been a bit off the last few months. As I was nearing the half in November I started having some ankle pain. Kept to my regimen, saw the doctor regularly, but nothing seemed to be working. It was at it’s worst in early December when I ran The Christmas Story House race. I was supposed to run the 10k but had to stop at the 5k because of the pain. I began to do some experimenting with figuring out what was really irritating it and came to learn that it was some of the exercises I was doing in the gym that gave me pain, more so than the running. It seemed as though so long as I kept my runs shorter and slower and stayed away from a few things in the gym, I felt pretty good. But if I tried to add things back in the pain returned. X-rays were negative, so the only way to know what was really going on was an MRI. After fighting with the insurance company for weeks, I was finally able to get the MRI last week and got my results yesterday. Torn peroneal tendon, bone contusion of the tibia, Achilles tendonitis, swollen this and that…this ankle is jacked up!! I was pretty devastated when I got the news. Thankfully 2 of my amazing friends were there when I got the call. And the rest of my amazing friends and family have been incredibly supportive and encouraging.

So now I await my consult with a foot/ankle orthopedist next week to see what the next step is: surgery or no surgery for the tear. I will admit that when I got this news yesterday some of the first thoughts to go through my mind were worries about ballooning up in weight and going back to that place I was 6+ years ago. And concern about not being able to use running and working out to cope with stressful emotions. But with the love and encouragement of my support system, I’m trying to keep my head up and think positively. I’m trying to focus on the things I will still be able to do…and with the encouragement of my friends Kathy, Rachael and Keith, focus on some other goals.

It’s so good to be back here!! What would you like me to write about? Is there anything about my journey you’d like to know more about? Let me know!!