It's been a good week so far. I've missed a session of pilates today but so far 4 walks and 3 pilates sessions is better then last week, so i'm happy and tomorrow we go again. I'm for sure going in the right direction. :-)

@Russ Walker Actually I managed to do my missing Pilates session before bed, my wife said something and before i knew it I was back on the mat! :-)

@Russ Walker Honestly, when it comes to diet i'm fine. I've tried every diet you can name, i'm well researched and my diet is actually very balanced and healthy, with a few sugary snacks in between. My very limited workout because of the knee pain does not boost my neurotransmitters unfortunately, like a heavy workout would. Its actually quite painfull and frustrating causing a lack of dopamine and makes me not want to exercise at all. But i'm doing it, treating myself and trying to keep a sense of humour about it all to stay positive. I know for sure that my knee pain is not caused by food. Using pilates i'm really narrowing down my issue to a place in my left side hip flexor close to where the sartorius muscle starts. So thats where i'm focusing now.

@Russ Walker I was in Spain in the summer and used swimming as my main exercise which was going well, no pain at all and really enjoyed it, but going out walking for sightseeing it was still painfull. So I can adapt and stay fit with swimming and cycling, but it's not fixing the issue, it's working around it. I now beleive that issue is tight stuck hip flexor muscles, left side is for sure stuck and painful, but i was only able to notice it when i actually tried to use those muscles with Pilates, in particular the side leg lift and circles. If i had kept swimming and cycling i would not have noticed, but for running and walking, which are the most natural body movements, you need your hips for the correct walking gait. If one part is not working the body will adapt but this has now led to pain. I may be wrong, but it's feeling like I have most of the puzzle pieces now. On top of that i've learnt how important training the core and the back is so i can avoid other issues going forward.

Day 3 was good, same routine with a walk and pilates. Knee is a bit iiritated so doing some stretching and somatic movements before bed on the related muscles and that seems to be helping keep the routine going.

@Russ Walker No It's just the way my body is. Its not the exercise that hurts, it's the imbalance. If i rest the pain goes away, when i first walk it's fine, over a few days the three muscles in that area affect the bursa. Only by continuing to walk can I know if the extra things i'm doing are working. The pilates has helped me find areas i'm weak and can improve, and it's basically revealing that i have short, tight contracted muscles in my hips from sitting 46 years.

@Russ Walker No fasting right now. I feel like eating really helps with energy when you dont have much muscle built up. Portions are smaller though and just want to cut back on eating junk but i'm gradually cutting back and changing eating routine.

@Russ Walker Well i started with a double egg omlet with mushrooms and tomato on dark brown bread. So i guess that would be quite some protein, not sure how much though. I found this is works well and energy feels stable all morning.

Yes that makes sense. I also notice that the 100 exercise is really a key focus of each class i've done so far with you. I just read the Joseph Pilates book and he instructs to learn the 100 first and then move to the next of his exercises. So my question is do you gradually learn each of his traditional moves, kind of in order as you increase the difficulty of the lessons, or is it alot more random with modern pilates? So is the goal still to gradually master those core moves or has it moved away from that?

@Russ Walker Just curious but how many of 34 original moves are now taught in sessions? So if you did Pilates for a year would you eventually encounter all the moves or are there too many newer, modern and better alternative moves instead?