Walkers/Runners--newbie with foot pain question?

[Cindy D]

This summer when I went to my doctor to see what could possibly be causing my recent numerous migraines, the answer turned out to be my blood sugar. I am not a diabetic, but if I can't learn to behave myself, there are needles in my future. I don't want that!

So I started watching my diet and walking daily, early in the morning to avoid the heat. Usually my friend walks, too, and we go at a pretty good clip. I wear several different pairs of athletic shoes for walking, because I wear them almost exclusively, flats only occasionally, and heels maybe a few times a year. I have also been "jogging" with the Wii Fit from time to time, doing the Free Run and doing the actual jogging on a jogging trampoline.

I have had a minor, nagging pain in the ball of my left foot off and on for several months now, even before I started exercising. It seems to date from when I had to wear my chorus shoes (character shoes, if you know what those are) for several hours for chorus competition in the spring. They are heels about and inch and a half high, and they are the highest shoes I own.

When I am standing, walking, or jogging, the pain feels like I have a lump in the ball of the foot, but when I sit down to examine it, there is no lump there. I actually have had a foot x-ray, because my regular doctor didn't know what it is, either. Nothing showed up on the x-ray. As far as I can tell, it seems to make no difference which shoes I wear, or whether I walk or jog. In fact, I can't tell that anything I do makes a difference. (Just for the record, I have lost about 25 pounds since I started, but there's plenty of weight left.) I have only missed doing at least SOME exercise on two days in over two months, but I don't recall a difference then either. It comes and goes as it pleases.

We haven't been able to afford for me to see a foot doctor, but I may be able to do that in a few weeks. Until then, any advice? Do you have any idea what this is? I have no hope of continuing to lose weight without the exercise, and would probably start piling it right back on. I can't stay off my feet anyway, because I am a stay-at-home mom with a two-year-old.

Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. I will also be posting a couple of related questions shortly. Thanks!

(I will also be posting this in the health category.)