WOW!   All I can say is that this season of Biggest Loser has had to be the most inspiring and most motivating for me!  After last season, I was pretty much ready to never watch again if the producers were going to allow the cruelty and vengefulness of a very few to EVER occur again and ruin the inspiration that so many of us gain from Biggest Loser!  However, I have never been inspired as much as I have from this season….by the young…the old…the originally super morbidly obese…and everyone in between!   Yes…there was game play that made it frustrating at times...but game play is part of the game!  For the most part, though,  everyone seemed to be supportive of each other, and even in this last couple of weeks, I’ve been moved to tears by the courage of contestants that weren’t even my favorites!

As I posted in my “veiled” post last night, I NEVER would have seen Helen being the winner, but when she came out...there was no question in my mind that she had won, even before getting on the scale! Helen was not one of my favorites…but seeing her accomplish what she has at an age(she’s just a year older than me) when weight loss for us women is supposed to slow to almost nothing…leaves me with no excuse NOT to complete my weight loss journey! And JERRY!  The “age” myth as far as weight loss is concerned was truly blown out of the water last night!  Congratulations to Helen, Jerry and EVERY contestant…the courage and determination of ALL of them has inspired me, and I will be rewatching some of these episodes online whenever I need the extra boost to continue my journey!

Speaking of my journey…work had been super stressful since I returned from doing the Country Music ½ marathon 2 ½ weeks ago…lol…what else is new?!?  No sooner did I get home than my coworker was off for a week, leaving me to cover her job AND my job…one night I and my boss and another coworker were at work until almost 1am!  So stress really reared it’s ugly head.  Sometimes I managed the stress well…sometimes I didn’t.  If I had change in my pocket, to the machine I would go!  That was frustrating, so since about midweek last week…I’ve finally found a solution to that problem…I do not keep any change with me at work!  That makes me reach for the healthy snacks that I take to work with me, and not having any money to go to the snack machines, I’m not tempted to even go look!

On the exercise front, after enjoying my ½ marathon in Nashville so much, I wanted to come back home and jump right back into working on running longer/farther without stopping.  However, my right leg/IT band have had other ideas!    My right outer knee felt tight and inflamed for several days after I got home, but with ice, ibuprofen and rest, that swelling and inflammation was gone by the next weekend after my ½ marathon.  What remained, though, was soreness at the outside of my knee, and the muscle just at the back bend of my  right knee.  It really has been reminiscent of my severe IT band strain that made it difficult for me to step up/down a stair or to squat or lunge when I got the IT band strain  from overdoing it with my walking frequency a couple of years ago.  I don’t believe this strain happened from  continuous overuse, though…but probably from the numerous hills that I travelled in the ½ marathon.  Even though they were gradual hills, and didn’t seem as daunting to me as the short steeper grade hills that I walk/run at Shelby Farms, I believe trying to keep a faster pace  walking on the upside of the frequent long hills I probably put more strain on my bothersome IT band than I thought.  After the inflammation went down, that same pain of going up and down steps when I had this before caused me to grimace every time I hit the steps outside our front door at work, and I could only barely bend my right knee to do a lunge without it aching.  After resting it though, and icing it when I can, I can now lunge a bit further, so that is encouraging.  This past Saturday, I WALKED 5 miles for the first time since I’d been home, although I had wanted so badly to get out a couple of days after getting home.  I can’t run the risk of prolonging the IT band strain any more than I have to, though, by trying to add pressure by running.  Like when I had it before, normal walking doesn’t irritate it too much, so until I can lunge without pain, walking it will be! 

Hope everyone else enjoyed Biggest Loser as much as I did!  I’m normally an American Idol fan too…but BL trumped AI this year!  And after seeing Helen win, I have new motivation to make moving toward 50 the healthiest years I’ve had since my early 30’s!  Forty may have knocked me on my butt…but I intend to show 50 who’s boss!