Hello from Tasmania, Australia :)

Hi all,

I have been a forum lurker for a while now and I just have to say how awesome so many of you are! So many of you are such an inspiration.

A little about me? I am 38 and up to a few months ago I spent a large portion of my day sitting on my butt. It wasn't due to sheer laziness completely, I have been dealing with a few medical issues for quite a few years. I was truly at the point where I was out of breath doing very simple tasks. I slipped two discs in my back and was waiting on surgery for fibroid tumours. I was smoking on average 25/30 cigarettes a day.

After I started to heal from slipping two discs, dosed up on pain medications for both my back and painful knees (I was also told I had arthritis in my spine) I knew enough was enough. I was miserable!

First thing to go was the smoking. I knew if I could do that I could do anything! Next came my hysterectomy for the fibroids. 17 tumours were removed in total. During my healing time I gained even more weight, I was so unhappy. Finally I got the ok from my surgeon to start exercising. I will remember my first attempt for the rest of my life. I hopped onto my treadmill, slowly increased the speed until it hit 2 kilometres an hour - OMG 10 minutes later I felt like I was going to die!! Lol

Fast forward to today, this morning for the second day in a row I completed the full 'The Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout' - a total kick *kitten* 60 minute workout.

For the first time in a long time I am pain medication free. I still have trouble with my knees and I have to be careful with my back but geez I feel a million dollars compared to the sad, unhealthy, smoking, dosed up not even living person I used to be.

Well, I hope I haven't bored anyone to death! Forgive my novel lol. I look forward to getting to know some of you more