Reality bites

I am in a great deal of pain. I thought about waiting until it passes before writing about it but decided that it makes more sense to be as real as I can be.

I have certainly slid from the program. I don't say this with a lot of self-recrimination because this type thing, even though it is not difficult, can be difficult to keep up. I have known others who are perhaps better equipped, more able, to stay on track when starting a new routine, and I have learned that even these folks fall off the plan eventually. The trick is, as always, to keep getting back on.

So that's where I am now. I have been doing the arthritis exercises very infrequently and have resisted doing the 30-minute walks or hikes too. I do keep taking the glucosamine.

It has been painful to keep up the 30-minute sessions. Either my right hip or my left knee has been in pain a lot. I do know that if I just get out there and somehow struggle through it, even if it means doing several even shorter sessions, that at least I will feel I've done it and usually over time the pain eases a bit.

If there were clear gains every time I exercised it would probably be easier. It's difficult to stay on course without seeing positive results. And of course I do not know where I would be if I did none of this, how much worse I might be.