Feeling demotivated

Do you consume a lot of dairy products? I know that for some people, one of the problems they have with dairy is excess mucus production. If you do, you might try cutting back and see if that helps.

I don't really think I consume that much dairy. I have a cup of milk in my oatmeal, and I may have an ounce or two of cheese on occasion, but other than that I typically ignore it. Unless it is already in something such as hot pockets.

Don't run and lift weights instead.

I was doing weights for a while, but found my muscles would be sore for several days to a couple weeks after doing it. That does not a good workout make.
I plan to start weights again, as well as some form of cardio. I am planning to do weights Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays if I can manage it and then Cardio every other day. Taking Sundays off.

how much water are you drinking beforehand? do you have allergies? are you a former smoker?

to be honest, your lungs are possibly trying to get used to this new pattern of exercise. but, there are days when I run that I also have excess spit/phelgm as well. I just hack it out, and keep on trucking.

I knew I forgot to address some things in the top part of my post! These questions are what I was going to address actually. Thanks!

Water: I have tried several approaches. Almost no water: Didn't work too well. Still had build up of phlegm, but lungs burned a lot more a lot quicker. 1 to 2 cups: Able to cough more of it out than little or no water. 3+ cups: easier to cough it out. Conclusions: Drinking more water makes it easier to get it out, but it seems to build up more. Could be just whatever is built up is actually able to be released with more water. However, lots of water beforehand tends to make my side hurt while attempting the running.

Smoking: I have never been a smoker. When I was born my mom was a 3 pack a day smoker, but I was born a perfectly healthy 9 lb 9 oz baby. As I grew older, I hated the smell of cigarette smoke. Mom eventually quit, can't remember if it was before or after my brother was born, but it was right around that time frame. To this day, being around cigarette smoke for any length of time gives me a headache.

Allergies: To the best of my knowledge, I have none. I haven't seen a doctor for several years now due to a lack of medical coverage. It may be possible that I now have allergies when I haven't before. My dad and brother have allergies, so I hvae tried taking some of their generic allergy medications with no effect.

I was doing weights for a while, but found my muscles would be sore for several days to a couple weeks after doing it. That does not a good workout make.

sounds like you either weren't lifting properly or were trying to do too much at once. if you haven't, seek the help of a trainer or a friend who's got some reliable experience before you start to lift again

It could be I was trying to do too much at once. When I started going to the Y, I joined the 12 week program. The first 4 weeks is purely cardio. Figure out what you enjoy, what you don't, and then getting you into exercising. The second set of 4 weeks is introducing you to some of the weight machines and setting some goals with them, and saying how many days a week you want to do weights. They have you start with a strength test on a few of the machines, to see what your max weights are and how many reps. The computer program they use then generates a weight machine workout using certain machines targeting certain muscle groups when you go in. It does not start you at the max weights, but goes for something that should be between light to somewhat difficult depending on if it is a warm up or near the end of the work out. However, just because I was able to complete the workouts doesn't mean I was getting enough rest between sessions or that I was getting enough protein or any other number of factors.

So, I was thinking about trying to save up for a few sessions with a personal trainer, since that is the only way I would be able to get someone with experience on weights to help me.

Also thinking I need to save up for an ipod or something so I can listen to music while I work out. I think part of my problem is that I either have a bunch of hills which really drains energy, or I have a track but nothing to focus on except watching the walls as I go by, which gets really boring. With music, I would be able to pay attention to the music instead of the scenery.

Another conclusion I have come up with: I could do a pre-C25k cardio workout to get rid of my phlegm, then do my C25k workout. It may be that I just need to lose some more weight before I am capable of doing W1D1 of C25k all the way through, but I am trying. I can continue to do what I am capable of, which has helped me lose some weight so far. I may just be expecting (or demanding) results faster than is reasonable.