Ow! What's that?

Mystery pain. Is that what comes along with an active life?

For some unknown reason, my left ankle is a little hurty. Not recalling actually doing anything to bring on the pain, it's a mystery. Also, my right knee has been smarting since Friday night. I think that one has to do with being in a seated position too long, as Erich and I attended a banquet celebrating the 20th anniversary of the company where he works. Drinks, dinner, speeches, an "our company kicks ass" film...sitting too long tends to make my knees lock up a bit.

Often a random ache or pain will come and go quickly and that's cool. But these have been ongoing for a few days now, and frankly, it's getting on my nerves.

It's funny what you can get accustomed to. My pain levels fluctuated when I was 450 pounds, but it was also a constant - like background music. I learned to ignore it for the most part, and take any steps necessary to keep it at that Muzak status. I walked on eggshells for at about, oh, 25 years or so. And when the pain got so severe as to move to the lead-singer position, I stopped. Stopped life. Tried to move as little as possible.

But now I try to get on with it, even though I notice the lower pain levels more. We had a really busy weekend so I couldn't just stop. Saturday, I put a brace on my knee and we went to a friend's party during the day; a two-and-a-half-hour "ghost walk" that night. Sunday I wrapped my ankle, put my knee brace back on and went grocery shopping. Tonight, I did the same thing and went on my usual walk/jog...ok, walking this time. No jogging.

I'm pretty sure this pain would've had me laid up in bed for a couple of days when I was obese. The fear of it becoming worse - much worse - would've been that intense. I recall my back "going out" once shortly before I started losing weight and it just wouldn't heal. My fear was that I would never heal, that my weight had finally caught up with me and this was it. Wheelchair, bedridden, TLC coming to film them cutting me out of the house. Dramatic, maybe, but I also knew how scenarios like that got started. I remember sobbing to my mother over the phone about this. She tried to comfort me while also letting me know the solution to the fear - and the pain - was in my hands. Lose weight.

But I don't let the pain stop me anymore. I have shit to do and I need to move. No more stopping for me, unless the pain gets to the point where I know it needs to be dealt with by a professional. No, I'm not completely stupid! :p

Mystery pain went along with obesity, I knew that, but apparently it doesn't stop when you lose weight. It's just less vivid and we are more able to tolerate it because, well, we're strong now and kick ass.

I started the 5-Day Pouch Test today. I've done this "fast" several times and it does help get me back on track. I haven't done it since the first of the year - and then I did it half-assed - so I'm really throwing myself into it now. So far, so good. I'm not even really that hungry yet. Yet. LOL!