A little over a year ago, I came across a group called Going Nowhere, and subsequently made a goal to walk 500 miles in 2004. A review of 2004 seems a little late since we're already this far into the new year, but what the hell? It's still January, right?

So, the bad news is, I didn't reach my goal. The good news is, I walked 400 miles! That's kind of a lot, I think. And I'm happy I did that much.

I'm sure you can guess what I'm about to say next. Yes, it's true - I made another goal with Going Nowhere. Five hundred miles in 2005! I can do it this year. And when I do, maybe I'll make a 600 mile goal for 2006.

So far, I've walked 25 miles. Since it's currently the twenty-fourth of January, I'm only averaging a mile a day. At first I thought that maybe that sort of sucked? Then I looked up last year's progress and by this time last year, I'd only walked 7 miles. So hey, at least I'm doing better than last year already.

Another progress marker is that I went from a size 18 to a size 16. Some 16s are still too tight, but generally, 18s are too big for me. This is very good news!

This year, I'm finally starting to focus on nutrition. After losing 10 lbs in 2004, I realized I'd like to make faster progress. And the only way to do that is to improve my eating habits. Just before the new year, I read the South Beach Diet book. I tried Phase 1 for one day, but I was grossly unprepared and had no vegetables in the house. It was unsuccessful (shocking, I know). Joe convinced me to see a doctor before doing anything as drastic as the restrictive Phase 1. But, procrastinator that I am, I have yet to see a doctor, and have been using Phase 2 as a rough guide for how I want to eat. Mostly, I've been increasing my vegetable intake and drastically decreasing any intake of sugars/starches. I feel really good. And I don't think I want to do Phase 1, after all.

Today, I picked up my copy of Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Solution, and started over. I never got through it the first time. Time for take two! It can't hurt to see what the guy has to say, right?

I'm excited about getting healthy, and am happy that even when I've eaten less-than-healthy foods, I've gotten right back on track. I'm doing what all the weight loss shows say: I'm changing my life! Not just going on a diet. Changes for the better are definitely in my future, and I'm already happy about the current results. I look forward to giving more good-news updates as the year progresses. Here goes nothing!