**Day 244**

I didn't want to come back to my blog yesterday after posting about my gain - I was afraid of what I would (or wouldn't) see in my comment section, but I didn't need to worry about anything because you were all there for me, and I am so grateful!  Thank you  to Chubby, Colleen, Hope, April, Deb, Jacqui, and my dad!  Your kind, encouraging words really help me!  It's hard to explain what the blog community means to me.  You all helped me to lose almost 30 pounds, and I have no doubt that you will all help me reach my goal.  Thank you for your constant support.  It helps knowing that I'm not on this journey alone.

**Days 242 & 243**

Final weigh-in for the month is not a good one:

I gained 3 pounds this month, so I'm, definitely, not going in the right direction.  It's so hard to come on here, and have to report a gain.  I feel ashamed that somewhere over the last couple months I lost my motivation to continue on this weight loss journey.  Why can't I get it the motivation back?  As I mentioned before, I can talk about it all until I'm blue in the face, but that's not going to get it done.  I need to regroup, and get myself back in the game.  I can't continue to gain.  I've worked too hard to let it all go to crap.

I'll be posting progress pics that will show no progress, but I skipped posting pics last month, and I don't want to skip again.

Anyway, don't give up on me because I'm not giving up on myself.

**Days 240 & 241**

Short post tonight because I'm exhausted - it's been a long weekend!  I did the 5k race on Saturday.  Saturday night I was out late with friends.  And then yesterday and today I hung out with my family in Chicago, and we had such a great time!!  We spent hours and hours walking the last two days, and that's a new experience for me.  In the past, we spent lots of money taking taxis.  My thinking was - why would I walk if I can take a taxi??!  But I don't think that way anymore!  The new me thinks - why would I pay for a taxi if we can walk there for free?!  We started out at Millennium Park, and then we walked to Buckingham Fountain, and, from there, we walked to Navy Pier, and then we just kept walking and walking and walking, and we did the same thing today.  Don't get me wrong, my feet and legs are very sore, and my blisters are worse than ever, but before this year I never would have attempted to do all that walking, and it feels good to be able to do it now, and it feels good to WANT to do it now!!!  Click on the collage to see some pics of Chicago!

**Days 238 & 239**

(Click on collage to enlarge)

I survived my second official 5k!  It was much easier than my first 5k, but, of course, it wasn't almost 100 degrees outside, thanks goodness!  We finished in about 48:00 - I don't know the official time yet with the delay of getting over the start line (since we start at the way back!!), but I did improve my time (I did the last race in 49:12).  My daughter needed to walk a little more than I would have liked during the race - she was struggling towards the end because her feet were hurting - so, I could have finished a bit faster, but that's not important.  We did the race together, and that's all that matters.  We're doing another 5k on September 25th, so we're going to keep training, and we'll, hopefully, improve our time.  It feels great to be doing these 5ks and I can't wait to do the next one!  I think, I'm getting a little addicted! :)

**Days 236 & 237**

I picked up my race packet for the 5k I'm doing on Saturday:

And I, also, picked up some stuff for my nasty blisters:

Tonight was my first run since I got the blisters on Monday.  One blister is almost, completely, healed, but the other one is being stubborn, and is still very painful.  So, I used the above items before my run tonight, but by the end of mile one I could tell the bandages had slipped off because the blister was really burning, so I only ran the 1 mile:

I ran the mile at a 2.0 incline, and it kicked my butt!  I'm still very slow, but I'm not surprised because I haven't been training like I should.  Yes, my back was hurt for a week, and yes, I've been dealing with the blisters this week, BUT before that I just hadn't been giving it my all.

I did really good for the first six months or so, but for the last two months I feel like I've been doing the bare minimum.  I'm not eating horribly, but I'm not eating as good as I should be.  And I'm still exercising, but I'm not exercising at the level I should be.  I've only been doing enough to maintain the 30 pounds I've lost.  Sure, I'm glad I'm not gaining, but I need to get back to losing because I am far from being done!  But you know what?  I'm done talking about it.  I can keep talking about what I should be doing.  I can keep talking about what I'm not doing.  I can keep talking about why I'm not doing what I need to be doing.  OR I can shut up, and just do what I need to do.  I don't want to be a "talker".  I want to be a "doer".  Doers make things happen, so I need to quick talking, and MAKE THIS HAPPEN!  I know what I need to do, so I'm going to shut up, and do it!

**Days 234 & 235**

My new running shoes suck! I bought the Asics Gel-Pulse 2 shoes, and they are not working for me!

They give me awful blisters on my heels:

I have one of these on each heel - oh, the pain!!!  They burn!!  I bought some heavy duty band aides, so, hopefully, I'll be able to do my run today.  Anyway, these shoes are a bust!  I don't know what the deal is - they're the right size, they felt good in the store, I did the heel check (no slipping), but they just aren't the right shoe for me!  I can't use my New Balance running shoes anymore - they are just done!  So, I'm going go back to using the Mizuno running shoes I have - they do cause a bit of pain in my toes, but, at least, they don't give me blisters!

**Days 232 & 233**

My back is MUCH better today - I only have a tiny bit of soreness left, thank goodness!  I don't want to push it by running tonight, but I'm heading out, in a minute, for a 5k walk. I'll do a run Mon., Tues., & Thurs., and then I'll be doing a 5k race on Saturday with my eldest daughter.  My hubby and my other daughter will be there to support us!  I can't wait!

I bought a new battery for my scale yesterday, but I haven't weighed myself yet.  I've decided I'm not going to weigh-in again until August 31st.  I'll do my final weigh-in for the month that day, and I'll take progress pics, and the pics will show progress!  I've decided to go a little Biggest Loser on my ass!  I've been slacking off way too much lately.  The fire within has died down, and I need to get back to it.  Don't get me wrong - I still exercise, and I still eat good, for the most part, but I should be doing better.  I mean, come on - it's been almost 8 full months, and I've only lost about 30 pounds.  I know, I know - 30 pounds is great, but I know it could have been more if I hadn't started getting lazy with my exercising and eating.  I need to exercise more (and harder), and I need to start being much more strict with the foods I'm eating.  So, I'm going to spend the next 10 days getting back to what I was doing before, and forming those good habits again!

I hope you all had a great weekend!