Good job, catbefit! Way to go!

We can all encourage each other because it sounds as though many of us are in the same condition.

Jean - That is one of the most remarkable before-and-after's I have ever seen - you must get that a lot.

JJ33 - I also want to encourage you to think long term, and to take care of the groundwork now, while you are motivated, to help ensure that you not only lose the weight that you want to lose, but set yourself up for success for the rest of your life.

I wish that I'd had a resource like this board when I started in with my walking/running routines over 9 years ago. With the birth of our 4th child in 5 years, we both committed to getting in better shape. When our baby was about 2 months old and was into a regular pattern of sleeping in the evening, we would put the others (2, 4 and 5) in bed, get the baby settled in, then place the receiver end of her monitor out on our front stoop. We had a 55 yard long driveway, and we would just start in walking back and forth, back and forth, for 15, 20, 30 minutes at a time. It was SO GOOD to get out of the house together and get a little exercise - I can't tell you. Eventually we were walking up to 4 miles a night - 64 trips up and down that driveway. Yes, the neighbors thought we'd lost it.

I remained a pretty committed walker for about the next 3-1/2 years, but would lose motivation pretty regularly, too, so that my weight would go right back up to where I started every few months. Not a good way to treat your body, But on New Year's Day of 2002, I became a runner, committed (resolved)to losing 35 pounds by May of that year, and for once was able to stick to the strategy of eating right and exercising to lose the fat and keep it off.

By this time our kids were 3, 5, 7 and 8, so I could venture a little further than the end of the driveway. We'd moved out to the country the previous spring, and I discovered that year that our block was exactly 1/4 mile. I alternately walked/jogged 8 laps in the beginning, 3 times per week, and was soon able to eliminate the walking and just run a mile. Cause for celebration! Soon it was 2 miles, and the weight was coming off, as I was able to stay motivated for more than just a month or two. I knew that I knew that this time would be different, and other than one attempt at running 3 miles that spring, which left me very sore and wishing I hadn't tried that just yet, I continued to run 2 miles, 3 times per week, all of that year and half-way into the following year. (I eventually did start going other places than just around the block). I met my weight-loss goal that first spring, and then lost another 15 pounds after that, before deciding I didn't really want to be that thin, and have returned to a weight that I'm happier with, right about where I'd set that goal weight.

That was a long way of saying that you don't HAVE to take years and years to get to where you are happy with your weight and health; but conversely, if you don't discipline your approach to getting to that point by building up the activity level at a conservative level, you run a high risk of repeatedly making small successes that are short-lived due to injury or overtraining. Yes, get moving and eat correctly, but temper that by thinking about where you want to be 5 years from now, and 10 years from now, and so on.

Brian (Better than yesterday)

I have completed the C25K before, several years ago, and am currently doing so again (I'm in week 7). Consider the C25K as a starting point. Don't be surprised if you actually GAIN weight during it. You are building muscle after all, and you're also not really doing enough cardio to begin burning a ton of fat. It's what you do after C25K that counts. That's when most of my fat loss occurred. Also, I've read that you ideally should build to 30 miles per week to start seeing the benefits of fat loss.