Joined this site Friday 22, January 2010

Hi everyone. My name is Notta and I live in Las Vegas and I'm over 40 - I joined the gym in December 2009 and decided it is time to get myself healthy. I have smoked for about 20 years and I finally quit cold turkey Nov. 30, 2009. It hasn't been easy but I feel so much better health wise and self esteem wise since quitting. Since being smoke free for almost 2 months I feel this sense of accomplishment like never before and I am proud of myself. So, it got me to thinking ... if I can quit cold turkey after 20 years of smoking, I can take my life back and get healthy from the inside out.
It has taken about 5 weeks but now I can go to the gym and walk for an entire hour without stopping. I know that may not seem like much to many people but when I first started at the gym I couldn't even go 5 min. on the elliptical! So, I went to the track to walk instead and I couldn't even make it 15 min. straight. So, to say that I can now walk an hour straight at a time is awesome to me. I just feel like there isn't anything I can't do if I try hard enough.
I found this site surfing the web trying to locate a healthier way of eating. I thought/think it is neat that you can enter whatever you eat and drink and it shows you exactly where you are throughout the day. Since joining I also found a site and purchased "The Diet Plate" and am waiting for that to arrive. It's a dinner plate that has all the food groups with measurements drawn on it, so that you eat perfectly proportioned meals throughout the day. I know I've been eating large portions so long that I really don't know what a normal one is, so I feel I need the extra help.
My only thing is, I hope all this new found excitement doesn't wear off - laugh. My husband bought me a pair of Sketchers Shape Ups today and that was so exciting. I put them on and outside I went to brave the cold Vegas winds. I walked outdoors for 77 minutes. Those shoes are sheer exhuasting. I feel like my legs have been stretched like rubber bands so they must work. I'll post back in a couple of weeks about how those Shape Ups are working out for me.
Anyway, I look forward to meeting what seems like a whole bunch of nice folks on this here community message board and to any advice or tips or even just chit chat. My goal is to loose 20 pounds naturally and healthy, not using pills, powders, diet dinners, etc.
Wish me well :flowerforyou: