**Day 500**

I'm on day 500 of my journey....and nowhere near where I want to be - in fact, I'm, basically, starting over, at this point, and that's frustrating, but that's okay.   Yes, I have gained weight back, and I've struggled alot for the last year, but I haven't given up - not once.  For almost 14 years I sat on my butt and didn't try to fight my obesity, at all, but last year I started eating better, and exercising, and I did lose weight.  Unfortunately, I lost a bit of my fight and drive, but I have never given up, completely.  I've just had trouble doing everything I need to do - I slack on one thing or the other.  I will either exercise, but not eat great.  Or I will eat good, but not exercise.  I just can't half ass it like this anymore because it doesn't work, obviously!

Today was a good day, and what a great day to start again - Day 500.  There's only 231 days left in 2012 - this year will be over before I know it, and I hope to end this year on a much healthier, and much thinner, note.  I haven't set a long term goal in a long time, so maybe it's time.  On day 731 of my weight loss journey (which will be Dec. 31st) I will be down 66 pounds from today, which means I have to lose 2 pounds a week, which is, totally, doable, IF I do what I'm suppose to do.  So, that's my long term goal for the year.  My short term goal - my very, very short term goal - is to focus on tomorrow.  My plans for tomorrow:

Walk 2 miles
Do an upper body dumbbell workout
Track my food - keep my calories under 1300
Drink 120 ounces
 

**Days 496 - 499**

I've been struggling, which is why I haven't been blogging.  I hate talking about how I'm failing and I know no one wants to hear me whine.  Whining isn't going to get me back on track, so I'm not going to dwell on the last few days.  Tomorrow is a new day.  I will exercise - I'm going to take a 3 mile walk.  I will track all my food, and I will drink 120 ounces of water.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

**Day 495**

My hubby and I took a 2 mile walk tonight:

Yes, I use my Garmin Forerunner for walking, so, I guess, it's my Garmin Forewalker!  Anyway, I'm such a slow walker, but here's the thing - I know I'm getting a good workout because I'm a sweaty mess after my walks.  I still weigh ALOT, so just walking at this slow pace is hard for me, but I know I'll get faster as I lose weight.

Here's a pic we took on our walk:

Can you guess which one is me?  Yup, I'm the bigger, rounder one!  Someday I'll have a normal size shadow....someday.

**Days 493 & 494**

I went to the gym yesterday - 30 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the treadmill, and my foot felt pretty good during my workout!  I didn't go to the gym today because I want to rest my foot between workouts.  I think, it's a good idea to ease back into working out, and it's working because my foot pain was not too bad today.  I'm icing regularly, and doing stretching exercises, too, and it seems to be paying off.  I'll be back to exercising tomorrow.  I'm doing good with my eating, and I've been drinking water.....lots and lots of water!!

My girls performed in a musical theater play tonight!  The play was called No Strings Attached, and they did a wonderful job! Here they are as the Fox, and the Blues Fairy:

And here they are after the play:

I'm so proud of them!!

**Days 490 - 492**

When my sister bought her house the living room had a big wall of mirrors, and she never got around to taking them down.  I hate those mirrors because I always have to see myself from head to toe when I'm over there!

I don't know - maybe if I had the mirrors at home they would help me stay motivated, 24/7!  What do you think?  Would you like having a wall of mirrors in your house?

I just finished icing my foot, and now I'm heading to bed to put my night splint on, and get some sleep, so, hopefully, I'll be pain-free, and rested for my workout at the gym first thing tomorrow!

**Day 489**

I woke up with some major foot pain from my gym workout yesterday, so I didn't go to the gym today, but I iced my foot, on and off, all day, and I was able to take a 45 minute walk tonight with a couple friends - well, they ran, and I walked!  Wow, it was humid out there - I was a sweaty mess when I was done!  My foot did hurt as I was walking, but it was bearable.  I ordered this off Amazon (image from Google):

It's suppose to be good for stretching my foot, so we'll see - I'm desperate!  I refuse to quit exercising though, so I'm going to keep at it!

**Days 484 - 488**

I've been sleeping with the night splint for five nights, and, unfortunately, it's not the miracle I was hoping it would be.  It is helping a little - I can, at least, put pressure on my foot when I wake up in the morning, which is progress because there were many mornings when I would have to hop around because walking was way too painful.  Also, sleeping with that big boot on is not comfortable, so I'm not getting much rest, but I'm going to keep wearing it for a bit longer.  I, finally, went back to the gym this morning, and I did have pain in my foot while I worked out on the elliptical and the treadmill, BUT it is what it is.  I can't not work out, so I need to just deal with the pain.  I iced my foot, and did a few stretches, when I got home from the gym, and I will make that my regular post workout routine.

I can't believe it's May already!!  Wow!  I've made no progress this year, so I'm really disappointed in myself, but I'm going to keep at it, and it will start paying off....soon.  I'm going to stop looking at the big picture, which is that I have to lose 100+ pounds.  Every time I think of that number I get really discouraged, so I just need to break it down, and think....only 5 pounds at a time, only 5 pounds at a time.  Sure, I have to lose 5 pounds about 21 times, but that's still sounds better to me than saying that I have to lose 105 pounds!  So, that's my plan!