Hi all! I am just starting this and I have a long way to go. I am excited about giving and getting feedback and support from this site. My spouse wants me to get the weight off and is frustrated because I haven't but he itsn't real supportive regarding activities or healthy eating. I am considering starting to run, but I am not sure about the best way to go about it. In the past, I have told myself that I would start with walking and then work my way up to running. I think this time I might try run/walking until I can run non-stop. I am also looking forward to recommendations regarding work-out shoes. They need to be affordable but I know they need to be good too. Right now I have some old wal-mart shoes and I find it more comfortable to do my work out videos with no shoes on at all. Can't wait to get to know some people working toward the same thing.

Welcome Adrian,

First, don't lose weight for someone else-take care of yourself FOR YOURSELF! Running is a great way to lose weight, check out the couch to 5K group, if you haven't already. I just shopped for shoes at Kohls, lot of choices for 40-50$. Or try online outlets like eastbay's
final-score.com

Adrian,

Welcome to the community!

I have been on my journey for about 8 months now. I will tell you for what it is worth, that many times over the years I have tried to do the same thing, but have gone out and tried walk/running right away. I would always get discouraged because I would not be able to go far and would feel like I was going to die. This may not be the same experience for others, but I learned I couldn't start out that way.

This time I did it completely different. I started eating less immediately. After one week I started walking 6 days a week (I chose early morning before my wife and kids were even awake) I did this for almost 2 months before I even tried to run. After those 2 months I would run for a couple hundred yards and then walk the rest. I finally moved to a treadmill where I could gage my speed and was able to run a lot further without falling over That gave me the confidence that I could do it. I just kept adding speed and distance and eventually moved back out to the road. The last thing I did was run a 10k race. I hurt my leg shortly thereafter so I am healing right now. Once I am done healing I am going to start training for a half marathon in the spring.

I said all that to say - if I would have started off trying to run again I probably would have quit long time ago, but because I built up slowly I was able to see progress and maintain a constant workout without feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. I instead built confidence every step of the way. I think it was paramount to my success - starting out slow!

I would suggest joining the running groups here in the forums, they have helped me out a lot along the way.

As for shoes, I know price can sometimes be an issue, but I started having a lot of problems with my knees and feet when I started running on the road (the treadmill was much more forgiving) and I had shoes that were about $70. I really wanted to run so I searched out a shoe store that actually watched me run and looked at my old shoes etc. They actually fit me for shoes and sold me inserts as well. It was $$, but well worth it because I wouldn't be still running if I didn't get them. There are a lot of people on these forums and other running forums that will tell you the same thing. I got mine done at Fleet Feeet www.fleetfeet.com and I know there are a lot of other shoe/running stores that do the same. Here is an explaination of what they do at these types of stores: www.bigpeachrunningco.com/fitprocess.cfm

Good luck and Welcome!!

Welcome Adrian! I hope we see you around here for a while so we can celebrate in your progress with you. I just want to reiterate what Amy said about taking care of you for yourself. I found that I was only successful once I set my own goals and identified my own motivation, and I wasn't just trying to do something in order to please someone else. Well, I wish you the best of luck!

Hi Adrian,
I am also new to this website. I am also looking forward to making new friends that I can talk to about about this weight issue. I feel that it's so much harder to lose the weight if you are doing it by yourself. And I can't talk to people who aren't going through the same thing because they just don't seem to understand. Well good luck and PLEASE don't lose the weight for anyone but yourself. Believe me I've done that before. YOU have to want to!!