Play Pretty.: Pretty Ugly.

A few months ago when it started to get warm out I was ecstatic with the shape I was in. I was probably the lightest I've been since the beginning of college but way healthier. I was in awesome running shape and thought I'd be able to log some serious miles throughout the summer. Of course, all that good news had to come to an end. I got injured.

After a couple months of sitting around and feeling sorry for myself I joined a gym and decided I'd try to keep the pounds off by lifting weights. I couldn't get into it. So as I waited for my knee to heal I sat back and watched my eczema get worse and my stomach grow.

As my skin got worse and worse, I completely gave up on staying in shape. My mind was only on one thing: Scratch where it itches. And it itched everywhere.

On my hands.

On my feet.

On my arms.

On my neck.

On my face.

On the back of my legs.

After a few days of oral steroids and a steroid ointment my skin was unbelievably beautiful. I'm serious. It was the most beautiful it's ever been on my whole life. Not only did I start eating healthier because of it, I started focusing more on my running. I started to read about minimal running shoes and how they might benefit someone who has knee issues. I was ecstatic to get back out there with my new pair of New Balance Minimus Road shoes. And after the first few runs even though I was unable to walk because of how sore my calves were, I was riding (running?) high. I felt as good as ever.

That was until my skin went back to being totally lame just 3 days after I was taken off the oral steroid. Afraid to use the steroid ointment, because of it's side effects (thins skin, creates permanent stretch marks), I invested in vitamins and Doritos. I was depressed again and not in the mood to fight. Especially since I was back to sitting around feeling sorry for myself and looking at this everyday...

Rub it for good luck.

I think I gained 10-15 pounds in a month. Not kidding. Not playing pretty at all.

Currently, my skin is a bit better but still sucks. I'm back to running and hoping that an all around healthier lifestyle will help me recover. I went for an 8 mile (shout out to Eminem) run a few days ago and came home with this. So now I have something completely new to be depressed about and disgusted with.