In my Reasons to lose weight post I said I’d elaborate on each of the reasons in separate posts. Ok, so not doing these daily, but here goes…

My first reason was – to be able to run with a lessened risk of knee injury.

I really do enjoy running. If you told me a decade ago that I’d be writing this sentence I’d laugh in your face. Moi?? running?? Still, at some point a couple of years ago I decided to give it a try and I’ve joined the ranks of wannabee runners. I can’t really call myself a runner – even at my best, which was over a year ago, I could only run for 5 km. And that high point in my running career was short lived. A few weeks later, I traveled out of the country, didn’t have the time or motivation to keep on and went back to couch potato.

Still, working out now, I started running again. Just because I like it.

The problem is I am carrying too much excess weight. I can feel my feet, ankles, shins and most of all knees, groaning under the strain. I limit my runs and increase distances very very gradually. It sucks – once you get into the run, you want to go on, as much as your lungs allow you to. It’s the adrenalin pushing you forward. Having to stop myself to protect my knees is no fun.

So, in order to have more fun running, I need to lose that extra weight.