It's been awhile! Too long, I'm sure. But things change and evolve over time, and I think my journal here will, too. I do still intend to keep up with it, but probably much more sporadically than I intended when I first began. I think I'll ditch the daily count as well, but may hit up important anniversary dates with it. I'm finding that counting the days is like counting the minutes to a greatly anticipated moment...it just makes the time drag that much more slowly. But eventually, I'll look back and be astonished at how far I've come.

I don't even remember how much I weighed when I last checked in, so I can't say how much weight I've lost specifically since then. But I can tell you that I broke through a plateau that I'd been stuck on for weeks, and have dropped below a personal milestone that I'm very happy about. Still have a long way to go, of course, but I'm going and nothing's gonna stop me!

I think one of the key things I'm learning this time around is that I don't have to be perfect in order to get where I want to go. So maybe I goofed up yesterday and made an unwise choice... In the past, I might have let that "failure" discourage me to the point of throwing in the towel yet again because I obviously don't have whatever it takes to stick with it. But today....I can look at a moment like that and realize that in the grand scheme of things, it's so minuscule. Yesterday's slip-up isn't going to affect my overall weight loss for the year one whit, unless I use it as an excuse to give up.

I found a really great site that has helped me tremendously in the last couple of weeks. It's a weight loss plan, tracking system, and online community all rolled into one. The amount of resources there is staggering and almost overwhelming. It's called SparkPeople (Google it ) and if anyone out there is looking for tools and/or support to help them in this particular journey, I highly recommend it. When I say "weight loss plan" I mean to say that they have a very comprehensive and balanced program that you can follow...but the entire system is also very customizable so you can fit it to whatever fit your personal needs best. And the whole thing is entirely free. If anyone wants to find me over there, just shoot me a PM and I'll let you know how.

So...that's where I am these days. Still trucking along....in mostly a straight line.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
- Proverbs 3:5,6