Needing Encouragement

It will get better. At my worst, I was 230 at 5'5. I couldn't even walk to class without being winded. I use to have to pause and catch my breath before walking into a classroom so no one would know I was so winded. God forbid if I had to go upstairs. Now it's much better. I am still not in shape, but stairs and long walks/ short hikes are no problem. The best part about it is that I'm no longer embarrassed about being out of breath. Because being out of breath after running up stairs because you're late is normal. And it's liberating really, not having to cover the breaths your sucking in or be self-conscious about the amount of sweat you're producing. Especially at the gym, I mean, you're supposed to be winded/sweaty after a work-out yea? It's a sign that you did the right amount for that day, in a month when you can do what you did today with no problem you'll have to go further to be just as exhausted and that is a very good thing! I always look at it like this, even if I only walk for 5 minutes, that's 5 minutes more than I'm used to and that is progress. If you do it every day I think your progress will be quick.

Keep at it every day. I will get easier I promise. I know from experience. I am walking almost 12 kilometers a day now and before I could barely make it 5 minutes.

You can do it, and I also know how you feel I suffer from Anxiety and depression also.

Talk to yourself like you would to someone you care about. Not, "omg you were tired after only 17 min", but "Good for you - you started! You did 17 minutes more than you did yesterday!". Depression sucks (been there done that) but YOU don't suck. Walking is great for healing from depression.

Yes! I just started on July 2nd. I have lost a lot of weight twice before, but gained it all back both times. I never used exercise to lose weight. In fact, I hadn't really done much physical activity in almost 10 years. I would even go to the extent to pay for parking on my campus so I wouldn't have to walk far, even though I have a parking pass that would put me a little farther for free.

I can so sympathize - depression and all (although mine was not quite the point of bed-ridden but plenty bad enough).

I am used to my body performing at reasonable levels and I'm a runner by nature. So imagine my annoyance and embarrassment at having to walk rather than jog. Sure, I get it. I'm 53 and I've been almost entirely sedentary for two decades. But that changes nothing in terms of how I feel when a grey haired old lady goes bounding by me on the walking path. To make matters worse, I've decided to go minimalist for my running style which puts a HUGE load on your calf and achilles tendon. So even had I not been sedentary that would still be a slow, grueling process of training.

What's helped me an awful lot is that while my performance levels are still.... unfortunate... the weight has dropped off pretty quickly. Just today I hit my target weight of 78kg although I still have about 3% body fat that needs to be swapped out for muscle. My wife and I love our new high fat, low-carb diet. It feels wrong to put as much full fat salad dressing on my salad as I want. The numbers tell the tale however. The chef's salad, all in, was 285 calories. Any lunch I might've eaten before this diet almost certainly would've clocked in at 500 calories or more. Learning that fat is the off-switch for hunger and the on-switch for "satiated" was huge.

Still though, I am very much looking forward to when I can actually run. As it sits, I'm stuck with the elliptical for any serious activity. What I do is track how many calories I could burn in 48 minutes. I'm always looking to push that envelope and that's where I get my sense of accomplishment from. I was SOOO pissed when the last time I missed my record of 672 calories by 12