Well I took my first step! I joined Omni Fitness today and actually started! I did 20 minutes on the treadmill! I am psyched now that I did it. I unfortunately have been a true couch potato up until now. I am resolved to change that and actually get to the point when I look forward to working out and feel terrible if I don't. I have been watching Dr. Phil and his weightloss challenge and what he says keeps going through my head.....you can't be overweight if your lifestyle doesn't support it. I think that's going to be my mantra. It really is so true. I am also trying to stop the negative self talk regarding the 'E' word. As I walked on the treadmill today I kept saying to myself "I love the treadmill, the treadmill is my friend." Sounds stupid but you gotta start somewhere!

My Goals
Stop the negative self talk.
Workout at least 5 times/week for a minimum of 20 minutes cardio per day.
Weight train to develop my muscles.

woohoo! someone exercise for me today! I feel like I am going to need oxygen soon! I hate being sick. I get to stram clean carpet later...sure thats be exercise.

Hi everybody!

I am so glad to be here and I am wishing everyone the best.

I, Lisa, make this contract with myself and my fellow challengers: I commit to staying physically active for the next eight weeks. I will make goals and post them each week. I am going to do my best to achieve them all.

Goals for week one …
* I will walk 50 minutes 4x
* I will line dance 1 hr. 15 min. 1x
* I will do back exercises and stretching 7x
* I will do an 8 min ab workout 7x

Past Exercise Experience:

Earlier in my life exercise was always incorporated into my life easily. I walked to school, participated in team sports, physical education, bike riding, horseback riding, etc.

Then I graduated from high school and started working and having no obligatory exercise in school and I drove everywhere, so exercise began to decline drastically. After my weight started climbing, I tried different diets and different forms of exercise, but I just could not stick to any of it.

I have been living in Sweden for two years and have had to walk everywhere, so exercise is being forced on me in a good way. I have been walking my fanny off for two years and, you know what, my fanny hasn't gone anywhere (gotten smaller). Humph!!!

With the motivation of The Second TDC Challenge, I am trying to up the anty a bit.

Thanks to AntiM, Marebear, and all other participants. It's going to be great getting to know everyone.

I just realized that I never answered the question about past experience with exercise when I signed up to join this thread.

I've never been a good athlete (I was never the person everyone wanted on their team in gym class), but I've always been active. I grew up on the beach, and as a kid I biked, swam, and sailed a lot. We also jumped rope on the street and played other street games as well. I grew up in the pre-Title IX days, and I don't remember any opportunities for girls to play organized sports before high school (boys had Little League, but it wasn't coed). I started swimming laps regularly when I was in college and with a few lapses I've kept the lap swimming up since then, even at my highest weight. I can easily swim a mile. I've also always liked hiking, although I had to give it up when I was at my highest weight because it hurt my knees and back too much. One of the nicest things about losing weight was discovering that I could climb a mountain last summer -- there is no way I could do that at 360 pounds. When I was younger, I was an okay tennis player and I really enjoyed playing tennis. However, I gave it up after having my first child (18 years ago) because the logistics were too difficult. I also used to bike a lot -- in my 20s I lived in San Francisco and could bike across the hills of the city. I had totally given up biking, but I tried it a few times this summer and enjoyed it, particularly at the beach where the land was flat. I'm not yet at the point where I could bike serious hills or even minor hills -- I think I need to shed some more weight before I can comfortably do that. That's about it for my past history with exercise.

One thing that strikes me reading this is that I like individual exercise -- I've never signed up for an aerobics class and I've never been on a team. The most social I have ever been exercising is playing tennis. Swimming laps is about as anti-social as you can get. I think this is because exercise serves as a form of meditation for me. The only time I truly empty my mind is while exercising and making the experience more social would prevent that.

well I get a day off finally saturday (i i worked 7 days this week ) and i will get to start doing my exercice again hopefully... I have been to tired .. does overtime count as exercise? lol

my goal this week:
yoga - 4x
walking 1m - 5x
i might add more depending on how tired I still am this coming week

What is your past experience with exercise?
none honestly other i walk to work, and have been for 3 years & i have been taking belly dancing off and on for about a year and a half (i still suck and i always get sidetracked and have to start all over again lol)

Crysania

What is your past experience with exercise?

I have two periods of exercising: Before Spinal Surgery, and After Spinal Surgery.

BSS - I loved to bowl and also played softball in the summer leagues. I also have a lifetime membership at a fitness center and would use it whenever I remembered (which translates to - "Not Often"!). I was at a comfortable and healthy 170-180#.

ASS ( ) - I had to have spinal surgery in October of 1998, which resulted in, among other things, fusing half of my spine. The surgery actually went well, until I was rushed back to the hospital after two months with a massive infection on my spine. I ended up hooked to tubes for three months and could not walk for 6 months. Needless to say, I now take up to 9 different medications for my back and have gained over 100#. Exercise for me now is when my back is up to it. My doctor advises me not to use a treadmill or any type of walking too much, but a recumbant bike would be ok to use, along with weights (as long as the back is supported). On bad days I need a cane, on good days I can actually touch my toes!

If I go slow, and not do too much at one time, hopefully me Good Days will outdo the Bad Ones.

Hi everyone,

Thanks to you, Monika for starting this, and to Mary for the great graphics.

Well here goes......

I, Cathy, make this contract with myself and my fellow challengers: I commit to staying physically active for the next eight weeks. I will make goals and post them each week. I am going to do my best to achieve them all. I WILL drink more water.

Week 1 goals:

~ Walk with Mac (my golden retreiver) no matter what the weather

~ Ab exercises nightly

~ Begin weights in the morning for upper arms

Past experience with exercise: Have always been active. Sports were never my thing, but between taking care of my home and garden, shopping, and dancing, I always felt good. When I began sitting behind a desk and computer for hours, I joined the gym and walked on the treadmill and some weights along with aerobics. But it just wasn't enough to keep up with my age and high carb eating habits. The weight just kept coming on. Now we've moved; our gym is further away. One of my goals over the next 8 weeks is to find a gym or Curves and work out a min of 3x weekly. My husband has found a gym he likes close to his work. Now I have to work on it!!!!!

Looking forward to a good 8 weeks. Combined with the Christmas challenge, I will have a healthier holiday season.

---Carichie

Hi everyone,
Mary, the graphics are great - my little guy looks like Meat Loaf, doesn't he!!
And Monica, special thanks to you, as always, for getting this together.

I, DusterCat, make this contract with myself and my fellow challengers: I commit to staying physically active for the next eight weeks. I will make goals and post them each week. I am going to do my best to achieve them all.

The timing couldn't be better for me, since my exercising was spotty last week and even less this week, and I need to get back on track. My goals for this week are to get up in time to do 30 minutes of exercise every morning before I come downstairs, and then to take a short walk on 2 or maybe 3 days during the week. I'd like to increase my walking eventually (a July injury is taking its sweet time to heal).

As to my past experience with exercise:
I have been largely sedentary my whole life - an avid reader from the first grade on, I nearly always chose reading over outdoor activities. As an adult, my previous job involved some outdoor exercise, but it was seasonal and very occasional. It wasn't until the mid-nineties that I discovered, by accident, the healing, stress-relieving power of daily long walks. And I noticed the weight-loss benefit, as well. Of course, people had been telling me this all along; I don't know WHY I didn't pay more attention! But anyway, ever since that time I have been trying to get back to walking daily, and belonging to this group is going to help me do it!

Having defaulted on the last TDC challenge due to a car wreck, I'm a little nervous about trying again--especially as I've just found out that stress and medication have combined to give me a nice happy ulcer.

However, stress won't go away until I do something to make myself healthier, so I'm going to set the following reasonable goals for week one, and take it from there.

I, Bree, do promise to complete the "Weight Loss" program on the tredmill at least two times over the next week, whenever school and health permits. In addition, I will do my morning and evening stretches.

I also promise to drink at least 4 liters of water a day.

Next week, let's hope I can do more.

Hi All.

AntiM - Thanks so much for putting this challenge together - I feel like its really going to help motivate me. Great idea with the questions too, I've really enjoyed reading everyone's answers.

Marebear - Great graphics!

Here goes:

I, Casey, make this contract with myself and my fellow challengers: I commit to staying physically active for the next eight weeks. I will make goals and post them each week. I am going to do my best to achieve them all.

Goals for week one …
* I will get on the treadmill 3x, minimum 30 minutes
* I will try a video 1x (Just bought WATP series and a Richard Simmons tape. I never used any tapes before so I'm curious to see how I'll like them.)

I fell off the exercise wagon about 3 months ago so I'm really glad I've signed up for this challenge. I'd like to see how far I've slid on the treadmill before I make very specific goals. So I'll see how it goes this week - I will do it three times - and then I'll make good, specific goals next week.

Past Exercise

I used to be very athletic. Played four sports in high school, ran three miles a day in college but I always fell off the wagon for a few weeks here or there and the weight would just absolutely pack on - in just a couple of weeks. So when I fell off for good, I gained A LOT of weight. When I was younger, I could just pick up with the exercising right where I left off and the weight would literally fall off. Darn the luck - that is so not the case now. But, I've always considered myself the most active fat person I know and I truly believe that I actually enjoy exercise. I just need to watch what I eat - and how I sleep (this is big for me, huge insomniac) - so that I can maintain a big enough energy level to get me through regular exercise.

I look forward to sharing this 8 week journey with all you. Here's hoping we've all made significant health gains two months from now.

- Casey

Hey Guys,
i am so excited about this and really looking forward to the next eight weeks.
Here goes:
I pledge to myself and my fellow challengers to exercise atleast 4 times a week.
I'll be alternating between my Tae bo and Firm Tapes. water water water, drink atleast 10 glasses of water a day.

Past experiences with Exercise.
I love exercising and the way it makes me feel. getting started is my problem but for the past few years i have been exercising on an on and off basis. but i really need to make is a part of my daily routine for life and i intend to start with this challenge.

I did it! Sore back, ulcer and all... I just went 2 miles on the exercise bike and spent 20 minutes on weights. I actually feel better than I did earlier this morning... though time will tell.

Only two more visits, and I'll have made my goal for the week. I'm so glad you decided to do this again, Monica! You're my hero!

Now to add my 2 miles to my World Walk total...