Hello everyone! I'm Aereon. So I have been overweight pretty much since puberty (20+ years ago). I've tried on and off to diet and exercise but have never really been able to stick to it. A fair amount of it is lacking energy. I've had chronic insomnia also since puberty, and usually get 25 hours or less of sleep a week. So I can throw myself into exercise for a day or two, but then I'm so exhausted from that and lack of sleep, that I give up again. And some of it has been lack of motivation. "Getting healthier" just seems like too nebulous of a goal, you know? Even "fitting into those cute shorts" wasn't enough because the logical extension of that is buying a whole new wardrobe and I hate clothes shopping. So I never really sustained any attempt at weight loss. Well, there was one summer when I got down to single digit sizes, but that was due to involuntary starvation, and left me with food issues that continue to this day. So why start this now? A few reasons. For a few years now I've been slowly cutting foods out of my normal diet. Gluten/grains, dairy, sweets. It has been a slow process because every time I've tried to quit cold turkey, it never worked. But taking my time and still indulging in small amounts when I crave it, has worked. I almost never crave those foods anymore. And a raspberry-orange smoothie makes me feel so much better than any chocolate ever did. So I'm at a point where I feel I could sustain a more strict healthy diet. Also, I've FINALLY recently been diagnosed with PCOS, and I'm awaiting the results of my sleep study (for sleep apnea). My doctor says there ARE drug treatments for both problems, but that the severity of both could be lessened without meds if I lost weight. He believes the majority of my other health issues (high blood pressure, asthma) would go away with a lower weight. There is still the problem of energy right now, but I am kind of hoping for a positive diagnosis of sleep apnea so I can get a CPAP machine because just a few hours on it at the testing hospital made me feel like a whole new person! And the biggest thing. I really, really, really want a baby before I'm 40 (4 years away). At my current weight, the PCOS makes it pretty much impossible. Plus the meds I'm on aren't safe for pregnancy anyways. So if I can get down to a healthy weight, get off the maintenance meds, and focus on fertility meds, I might have a chance. So basically: Height & Weight: 5'2", 252 lbs (according to bmi, I am morbidly obese) General goals: -being able to stop taking current meds forever -having a baby -having energy to enjoy life Specific goals: -Get my weight down, in 25lb increments (under 225, 200, 175...) -Get my clothing size down to around half (Currently a 26, so...12/14) -Be able to complete at least the half-marathon of this: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/denver in October We do have a work-out room in the building. I'm not really much for weight lifting, but I do enjoy the treadmill and stationary bike. I think there might be an ellipsis machine too. I'm thinking of starting off with 30 minutes each on 2 of the machines, although I'm not sure how many times a week. 3 maybe? But then I don't know whether to increase time, or days, or both, which was the ultimate push for me joining here.
