I Feel Skinny, Oh So Skinny....

Folks, it's all about the positive reinforcement. I don't know what's going on with the scale.

I'm ignoring it. Until tomorrow, at weigh-in. But even then, it's not getting too much importance.

Two major things happened this week that should trump all else (in terms of my own personal world - not the 'real' world):

1) I broke through a major mental block and started jogging, despite my fear of being too heavy for my poor knees. I did it, and my knees didn't crumble instantaneously into dust.

2) I put on a usually tight'ish pair of jeans for work yesterday that are several sizes smaller than what I was wearing last year at this time. And they are loose. I threw on a nice t-shirt, a v-neck sweater in a beautiful azure color, and bopped off to the office.

It was only after I got there that I realized how nice I felt in my clothes. At the risk of sounding like a vain ninny, I really felt like I looked good.

Maybe that's how South Beach Steve feels in his new suit? He totally rocks it, by the way.

I'm not "skinny," by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not even close to my goal weight.

But if you are comparing me to how I was 70 lbs ago, then yeah...I am way slimmed down. A few people even commented yesterday that I looked really great. I think the fact that I was projecting positivity plays a role here, too.

So it's damn the miserly scale, and full speed ahead! Something must be going right, because I do believe the inches are coming off, even if the pounds aren't.

On that note, I want to ask some jogging questions of all you runners out there. I just posted this query on Lori's blog, because she's a kick-butt runner and racer. But then I figured I'd throw it up here for others to opine on.

Here's my question:

Any advice on how to ease into running so you don't irritate bad knees? When I say bad, I don't mean ripped or torn ligaments, etc...Just stressed knees, prone to inflammation. I did tear a meniscus last year and my left knee has never fully recovered, but it's fully functional - just gets a little achy sometimes. But the doc last year said I have good cartilage, no real serious damage, I may just have a few bone chips that float around and irritate me now and again. Obviously, losing weight is the best thing I can do for my knees, long term.

When I jogged last week, I did have pain afterwards -- inflammation and irritation and aches in the knees and hips for about two days. My muscles weren't sore -- my bones were! Is this possibly a sign that I'm still too heavy for running, or should I push through? What say all you runners out there?

Any suggestions and feedback are really appreciated. I'd like to start developing my superhero powers beyond vigilance. I'm also looking for speed and agility. Yeah!