New to this site.

I have decided that it is time to loose wight. I need to do this for myself as well as my family. I have 3 beautiful kids and need to be there for them. This is so hard for me. I just don't know where to start. I am not an exercise freak, so this seems to be my biggest struggle. I just can't get motivated to do it. I have tried walking and have some minor back issues so it is difficult for me. I have tried the Wii workout and get upset because I do not see results right away. I work full time and have three kids plus a husband. I have tried to get up in the morning to workout but find myself getting upset because I can't get going.

My husband keeps telling me that I need to be doing an hour workout session for me to even begin seeing changes. I hate it because he just does not understand. I suffer from depression so that does not help my situation either.

I just don't know where to start. Suggestions anyone????

Keep trying, you will find what works for you. My experience has been that my exercise CAN be broken into smaller chunks. I try to get in at least 15 minutes at a time, but for my whole weight loss journey, I exercised in the morning (pilates, yoga, fitness ball, stretchie band) and at night (cardio). I have the 10 minute solution DVD series and some days I literally worked out 10 minutes here, and 10 minutes there.

Since you have a Wii - I really like "My Fitness Coach" and I LOVE "Gold's Gym Cardio Workout". The shape boxing is an amazing workout - 30 minutes and I'm sweating up a storm! Both may be difficult, however if you have back issues. Have you tried the WATP videos? The nice thing about them is that you are in your home - so if your back starts to give you trouble, you can pause or stop and rest.

I say start where you can, and go from there. And, I respectfully disagree with your husband. You will see increased benefit from ANY attempts at moving more. They may not be dramatic at first - but sometimes we need to learn to walk, before we can run.

Make sure your eating is on track - the reality is that exercise is important, but to lose weight - getting your eating under control (making a plan and sticking to it) will affect the scale much more than exercise will.

It is much easier to eat 500 less calories a day, than it is to exercise off 500 calories (in my most humble opinion).

I like tracking my calories in Fitday - it is a great way to keep my honest and on track

I started where you are. In the beginning I just worked on my food intake, I didn't worry about exercise. Exercise seemed hopeless.

While an hour a day may show faster results, anything is better than nothing. I started walking just 1/4 of a mile and 4 months later I am up to 3 miles. Do as many little things as you can. Park farther at the grocery store,walk the driveway with your children, walk the edge of the play ground when you take your children to the park. You can find lots of little ways to add activity to your life. It WILL help even if it isn't an hour :-). As you lose weight it will get easier and much more fun! Oh, one thing that helped me was keeping a log of all the little activities I did each day- wanting to make the list as long as possible was motvating for me. I get a fresh page for each day and log activity, food eaten, or whatever I am doing that day. The fresh page each day helps me start fresh every day.

This board is a super support system - so lean on us when you need to. You can do this and your children will benefit from a healthier Mom.

Hi and welcome.

I'm glad to see that you are making your way around the boards. Please, continue to make yourself at home.

And about the exercise ... if you are used to doing very little ... anything more is better. Human bodies are very individual. There is no set timing for any of this stuff. Just keep chugging.

We may hate exercise and eating healthy, but we want to lose weight more than anything. But the reason we are over weight is because we hate doing those things. It's a vicious cycle. So.... in order to lose weight, we just have to suck it up, and do it. We have to really want to change, and if we really do want to change, then we'll do whatever it takes.

I have gotten to the point, where I can finally say, I'm ready, let's do this, bring it on, and I will do what it takes.